India Telecoms and Media Law Update 2016
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Volume 3 • Issue 4 Telecoms & Media Regulators remaining watchful of consolidation Global interview panel covering key economies led by Laurent Garzaniti Regulatory developments • Major cases • Big Data • 2016 trends Europe • North America • Asia-Pacific • Latin America © Law Business Research 2016 Publisher: Gideon Roberton Senior business development manager: Adam Sargent [email protected] Business Development Manager: Dan Brennan [email protected] Readership Development Manager: Rosie Oliver [email protected] Product marketing manager: Kieran Hansen [email protected] Welcome to GTDT: Market Intelligence. Head of production: Adam Myers This is the second annual issue focusing on global telecoms markets. Editorial coordinator: Teya Humphris Subeditor: Tessa Brummitt Getting the Deal Through invites leading practitioners to reflect on evolving legal and Designer/Production editor: Robbie Kelly regulatory landscapes. Through engaging and analytical interviews, featuring a uniform set of questions to aid in jurisdictional comparison, Market Intelligence offers readers a Cover: iStock.com/Danil Melekhin highly accessible take on the crucial issues of the day and an opportunity to discover more about the people behind the most interesting cases and deals. No photocopying. CLA and other agency licensing systems do not apply. For an Market Intelligence is available in print and online at authorised copy contact Adam Sargent, www.gettingthedealthrough.com/intelligence tel: +44 20 3780 4104 This publication is intended to provide Getting the Deal Through general information on law and policy. The London information and opinions which it contains September 2016 are not intended to provide legal advice, and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice concerning particular situations (where appropriate, from local advisers). 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He focuses on a broad range at ANA Law Group and has been in of intellectual property, IT, outsourcing, practice for approximately 10 years. She employment, technology, data protection, advises on international TMT transactions telecommunications and entertainment and regulatory aspects of the Indian law matters, and his practice encompasses telecoms sector. Ms Gupta also advises both litigation and commercial or multinational banks, financial institutions, transactional advice in these areas. He technology businesses and other has worked with some of the nation’s companies on data protection and privacy highest-profile companies, as well as law issues. She has extensive experience global corporates in the manufacturing in handling advisory, transactional and industry, banking and finance sectors, litigation projects in all areas of TMT and and telecommunications and technology intellectual property practice. companies. He has spoken at several GTDT: Market Intelligence – Telecoms & Media INDIA \\ 63 © Law Business Research 2016 GTDT: What were the key developments in Fourth, TRAI has completely implemented communications and media regulation in your mobile number portability, allowing subscribers jurisdiction last year? to retain their mobile numbers, in any part of the country and with any operator. Anoop Narayanan & Priyanka Gupta: In the Finally, the Digital India initiative introduced new government regime, the Indian telecoms by the government to digitally empower and regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of transform Indian society and its economy has India (TRAI) has become significantly active in also seen tremendous progress in the past year. both the telecoms and broadcasting sectors, with Nine major projects have been initiated under several key developments. this programme: (i) broadband services to rural First, earlier this year, TRAI issued the areas and urban developments and buildings; (ii) Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data easy mobile connectivity and internet services Services Regulations 2016. This effectively to all villages in India; (iii) turning post offices prohibits internet service providers from in rural areas into multiservice centres for the offering data plans to subscribers on the basis people; (iv) online applications and interface of the content accessed by the subscribers. This between departments, online certificates and regulation came in the wake of intense debates on cards, government databases and information, the issue of net neutrality and differential pricing public grievance redressal, etc; (v) setting up for internet data packs. of the digital service programme e-Kranti, for Second, TRAI has laid down the standards of the educational and health sectors, services for quality of service for various services provided by justice, the security service and financial sectors the telecoms service providers to their customers. and also for the farmers in India; (vi) hosting TRAI has engaged independent agencies to audit data online and creating social media platforms and assess the quality of service, and also carry for communications and discussions between out regular surveys to assess the customers’ government and citizens on various issues; perception of the services. Under its consumer (vii) zero imports of electronics in India by setting protection regulations, TRAI has imposed various up smart meters, smart cards, micro ATMs, set- financial disincentives on the service providers top boxes, etc; (viii) training around 10 million to improve the quality of services; for instance, students from villages and small towns for IT jobs, a penalty for each call drop, which the Supreme and training delivery agents and service providers Court of India later held to be ultra vires. for delivery of IT services; and (ix) the setting Third, TRAI has also amended the quality of up of mass messaging applications, government service regulations for broadcasting to provide e-greetings and Wi-Fi installations in public places more transparency in the digital cable TV systems and universities across India. provided by multisystem operators. TRAI has made a framework to simplify the process for GTDT: Does sector-specific regulation – as subscribers to switch from one direct-to-home opposed to the general competition regime – (DTH) service provider to another. play a significant role in your jurisdiction? Is this expected to change? AN & PG: There exists certain confusion between sector-specific regulations and the general competition regime. Historically, the telecommunications sector and all aspects of the industry have been governed by sector-specific regulations. TRAI regulates the telecoms sector and one of its primary purposes is to facilitate competition and promote efficiency in the operation of telecommunications services so as to facilitate growth in such services. Prior to India’s Competition Act 2002, and the establishment of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), TRAI alone handled the competition aspects of the telecoms