Parliament passed a bill that seeks to
allow the government to temporarily take control of telecom services in the
interest of national security, and provide a non-auction route for the
allocation of satellite spectrum.
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, was
approved by the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote. It was passed by the Lok
Sabha after a short debate on Wednesday.
The Bill seeks to allow the government
to temporarily take control of telecom services in the interest of national
security, and provide a non-auction route for the allocation of satellite
spectrum.
It also allows the Centre to take
possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the
interest of public safety.
Besides, it provides for stopping
transmission and intercepting messages in case of public emergency, in the
interest of the public, to prevent incitement for committing offence.
According to the bill, the press
messages of correspondents accredited to the Centre or state governments shall
not be intercepted or detained unless their transmission has been prohibited
under rules applicable to public emergency, and public order.
Replying to the debate, Communications
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Telecommunications Bill 2023 is being
brought keeping in mind the aspirations of the new Bharat “to replace two
colonial-era laws”.
“In the last nine-and-half-years, India’s
telecom sector has emerged from a very difficult period marred by scams to
become a sunrise sector,” the minister asserted.
He also said during the same period, the
number of telecom towers has increased to 25 lakh at present from just 6 lakh
in 2014 and the number of internet broadband users has increased to 85 crore
today from just 1.5 crore before.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, India made the fastest rollout of 5G technology in the world
with the maximum equipment made in India, he said.
PTI
