Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy - Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018 - EY

 
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Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy - Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018 - EY
Propelling India to a
trillion dollar digital
economy
Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018
Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy - Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018 - EY
Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy - Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018 - EY
About the
report
Data is redefining the norms of connectivity and transforming the lives of
1.3 billion Indians. Internet has changed the way people communicate,
socialise, create, sell, shop and work. India’s digital consumption patterns
highlights this evolution. By integrating data and connectivity into daily
operations, communities can automate many functions to create
efficiencies and maximize their resources. Today, 460 million Indians are
online, but around 65% of the population still remain offline – outlining
the untapped opportunity of digital economy.

The National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 articulates three
critical missions to power growth and connectivity by 2022 under the
pillars of Connect, Propel and Secure India. The path for digital has been
laid. It is now a matter of “how fast”, and not “when”, the country
achieves what the policy has envisioned for India by 2022.

EY, in collaboration with ASSOCHAM, has developed the report titled
“Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy: Implementation
roadmap to NDCP 2018”. The report outlines immediate interventions
and medium to long term endeavours required to implement the vision
and strategy of this transformative policy. The report assesses the need
for future ready infrastructure and collaborative efforts required to
expedite digitally secure universal connectivity to the citizens of India.

With the right mix of accelerators - including regulatory framework,
government incentives and industry collaboration; India has the potential
to unlock a trillion dollar digital economy by 2022.

Methodology

Members of the ASSOCHAM National Council on Telecom and
Convergence provided key inputs on the current scenario and
requirements to meet the NDCP 2022 objectives. The inputs have been
backed by extensive secondary research, analysis and insights by EY.

 Acknowledgements
 Members of ASSOCHAM National Council on Telecom and Convergence

 EY report development team
 Jasmeet Joshi, Kanika Kakar, Kaustav Bandyopadhyay, Manish Tyagi, Parul Malhotra, Sunay Jain
Propelling India to a trillion dollar digital economy - Implementation roadmap to NDCP 2018 - EY
Shri Manoj Sinha
  Hon’ble Minister of State,
  Ministry of Communications (I/C)
  and Ministry of Railways,
  Government of India

The telecom sector has been a pivotal force behind            The focus is on accelerating digital delivery of services
India’s digital transformation. Surge in data consumption     including e-education, e-health, e-governance etc.
and rapid adoption of new technologies continue to re-        through rapid rollout of optic fiber network that will
define connectivity and engagement dynamics in India.         provide connectivity to all gram panchayats. Ubiquitous,
As the largest data consumer and the second largest           robust and high speed broadband connectivity will be
smartphone market, India is carving out a new digital         the foundation for the success of this app driven
identity globally.                                            economy.

A series of pro-growth reforms have steered the digital       In this context, I am happy to note that ASSOCHAM is
economy on an upward trajectory. Reform oriented              organizing the 11th Telecom India Summit with the
government initiatives continue to transform the lives of     theme, “Propelling India to a Trillion Dollar Economy:
1.3 billion Indians. Whether it was the introduction of       Roadmap to NDCP implementation” which will provide
“Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana”, the world’s largest         an impetus to the digital ecosystem, thereby fast-
financial inclusion programme, the promotion of “Mudra        forwarding our march towards Digital India vision.
Bank” to provide housing for all, or targeting citizen
centric initiatives with “My Gov Online”, these initiatives   I wish this event great success.
have greatly aided in promoting the vision of a connected
India.

Concentrated efforts have been made towards
developing a robust infrastructure through accelerated
fiber deployment, universal Right-of-Way (RoW) policy,
allowing 605 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi services,
establishing framework for public data office (PDO) and
removal of cascading taxation from VNO (virtual network
operator) regime.

Foreword
Smt. Aruna
 Sundararajan
 Chairperson, DCC & Secretary (T),
 Department of Telecommunications,
 Government of India

I am very happy to be a part of the ASSOCHAM 11th              including doubling of infrastructure (fiber and base
Telecom India Summit on “Propelling India to a Trillion        transreceiver stations), lifting of spectrum caps,
Dollar Economy: Roadmap to NDCP Implementation” with           declaring a universal RoW policy, delicensing around
the active participation of industry associations like COAI,   650 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi services, removal of
TAIPA, ISPAI and ICEA.                                         cascading taxation from VNO regime, etc.

The newly announced NDCP 2018 seeks to propel India to         We need to continue with this momentum to deliver on
digital leadership and support India’s transition to a         the NDCP 2018 objectives. This is possible with the
digitally empowered economy and society by fulfilling the      continued collaboration and support of all stakeholders.
information and communication needs of citizens and
enterprises by establishing a ubiquitous, resilient and        I am happy to note that key government officials are
affordable digital communications infrastructure that will     participating, along with industry leaders, in this summit
help India become a trillion dollar economy.                   which shall help accelerate implementation of the
                                                               objectives and pave the way forward for further growth
The policy seeks to attract US$100 billion in investments      of the telecom industry in the country.
over the next four years and to create four million
additional jobs, enhancing the contribution of the digital     This is a great platform enabled by ASSOCHAM creating
communications sector to 8% of India’s GDP and propel          an opportunity for the industry and the government to
India to the Top 50 Nations in the ITU ICT Development         contribute collaboratively towards digital growth.
Index.
                                                               I wish this initiative all the success.
The department has already taken several steps initiating
key reforms in the digital communications sector,
Shri R S Sharma
  Chairman, Telecom Regulatory
  Authority of India

I am very pleased to hear that ASSOCHAM along with            With the mobile subscriber base having crossed the
COAI, ICEA and TAIPA are organizing the 11th Telecom          billion mark, the next big opportunity is to accelerate
India Summit on “Propelling India to a Trillion Dollar        this power in the hands of the masses to boost the
Economy: Roadmap to NDCP implementation” on 16th              country’s GDP. The NDCP 2018 lays down the roadmap
November 2018.                                                to leverage this opportunity. Focused time bound
                                                              implementation will be the key to success.
The NDCP 2018 is yet another progressive initiative by
the government to usher in an era of digital                  The ASSOCHAM Telecom Summit on “Propelling India to
empowerment for the country.                                  a Trillion Dollar Economy: Roadmap to NDCP
                                                              Implementation” is indeed most timely and opportune as
India has already begun this journey of digital               it is the first initiative that brings all stakeholders on a
transformation and is soon expected to become one of          common platform to lay down the implementation
the leading internet markets in the world. The growing        roadmap for this visionary policy.
penetration of smartphones, fueled by increased
affordability and availability has provided a fantastic       I convey my best wishes for the success of the
platform to propel India into the next technology             ASSOCHAM 11th Telecom Summit.
revolution and accelerate its progress to Industry 4.0.

Robust telecom and broadband networks will play a key
role in seamless connectivity, which is the essence of true
digitization. In fact, digital simplicity will demand even
higher standards of connectivity.

Foreword
Shri Ajay Sawhney
  Secretary, Ministry of Electronics
  & Information Technology (MeitY),
  Government of India

I am pleased to note that the 11Th telecom India summit         Connectivity has given rise to entirely new ways of
is being organized by ASSOCHAM along with COAl, ICEA            delivering services to consumers. Industries like ed-tech,
and TAlPA on 16th November at New Delhi.                        m-health, agritech, ecommerce and public transport are
                                                                shining examples of this. Students in rural areas now
The telecom industry plays an important role in making          have access to online course material and tuitions over
‘Digital India’ vision a reality, by proving telecom services   digital devices, bridging the gap with their city
to various sectors of economy such as banking and               counterparts. The market for online education is
financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and public       expected to grow to USD 1.96 billion by 2021.
services.
                                                                I congratulate ASSOCHAM and other organizations
Today, India is the largest consumer of data globally,          involved in organizing the workshop and extend my best
surpassing China, USA and Japan. Together, we consume           wishes to the participants.
over 2,360 Petabytes of data via mobile telephony every
year, equivalent to data stored in 526 million DVDs!
Nearly 82% of this data consumption is on 4G technology.
4G data has shown 135% growth and 3G data has shown
286% growth in CY17 vs CY16. India has also become the
second largest market for smartphones in the world, with
over 456 million smart phone users. LTE capable devices
have touched 218 million. Last year 9 out of 10
smartphones sold were 4G capable. Over 100 major
global smartphone brands are present in the Indian
market. Commercial 5G launch targeting M2M/ IoTis
expected in India by 2020.
Shri Uday Kumar
  Varma
  Secretary General, ASSOCHAM

The telecommunications sector is a critical enabler for       Mounted on the three Pillars of Connect India, Propel
Digital India as it will fuel and drive the growth of all     India and Secure India, the policy aims to propel India to
sectors of the economy.                                       digital leadership and support India’s transition to a
                                                              digitally empowered economy and society.
India is currently the world’s second-largest
telecommunications market with a subscriber base of 1.2       A focused implementation of the various strategies
billion and has registered strong growth in the past          outlined in the Policy will help establish a ubiquitous,
decade and half. In the last 18-24 months, there has          resilient and affordable digital communications
been a slowdown in this growth and the sector is beset        infrastructure, fulfil the ever growing and enhanced
with several structural challenges.                           information and communication needs of citizens and
                                                              enterprises and take India forward in becoming a trillion
The NDCP 2018 recognizes theses challenges and seeks          dollar digital economy from the present level of
to address the underlying issues. The Policy is designed      approximately US$360 billion.
to empower the Indian telecom sector to fulfil this
designated role to achieve the government’s vision of a       ASSOCHAM had submitted its suggestions on the Draft
Digital India. The Policy will provide the platform for the   Policy and now wishes to contribute in the process of
much-needed impetus for light-touch, technology friendly      taking the policy document and converting it into
framework, which is required to further propel innovation     actionable items to achieve the stated Policy objectives.
and efficiency via a robust communications industry.
                                                              The 11th Edition of its Annual Telecom India Summit is
The policy is holistic, progressive and forward looking as    the first workshop that will kick-start the process of
it rightly considers all aspects vital for the development    policy implementation through a collaborative process
and growth of the sector to deliver state of the art          of interaction of the decision makers with all the
connectivity for all in both urban and rural areas across     concerned stakeholders. I hope that the Summit will
the country.                                                  provide the government with a clear implementation
                                                              plan that will help achieve the national policy objectives
The policy captures eloquently the needs of this sector       in a focused and time bound manner.
amidst an evolving landscape of convergence across
technologies and platforms and lays down the roadmap          I would like to offer my best wishes on this occasion for
that will pave the way for development of telecom and         the success of the Summit.

Foreword
digital services in the country.
Shri P. Balaji
  Chairman, ASSOCHAM National
  Council on Telecommunications
  and Convergence

At the outset, we at ASSOCHAM would like to                   It may be appreciated that the success of any policy lies
congratulate the Department of Telecommunications             in its focused and time bound implementation to achieve
(DoT) on coming out with the NDCP 2018, an excellent          desired end objectives. The ASSOCHAM 11th Telecom
policy document that eloquently captures the three            Summit is an effort in this direction.
foundational pillars for the success of Digital India, the
policy goals under each pillar and the strategies to          This report seeks to identify the building blocks to
achieve these goals.                                          achieve the end policy goals so that the various
                                                              strategies enunciated in the policy can be implemented
ASSOCHAM as a knowledge chamber has played a pivotal          in a time bound and structured manner, with the
role through its Annual Telecom Summits in driving ease       measures being classified as short term, medium term
of doing business and creating the platform for all           and long term on the basis of the implementation
stakeholders to come together for providing the               schedules.
government with the necessary inputs for the formulation
of the 2018 Policy.                                           We hope that this summit will be the first of such
                                                              collaborative efforts and that the decision makers, the
We are gratified that many of the industry concerns have      industry, the experts, the academicians will continue to
been recognized by the government and the National            participate whole-heartedly in this important nation
Digital Communications policy 2018 has not only laid          building initiative.
down the vision and objectives for a Digital India, but has
articulated clear strategies required to achieve the policy
objectives.
Prashant Singhal
  Emerging Markets TMT Leader, EY

Over 460 million Indians are online and nearly 40% of         Developing a robust and future proof infrastructure is a
them are from rural areas. For many Indians,                  definite. With that, balancing fixed and wireless
smartphone is the internet. 70% of India’s internet users     technologies is important to achieve the digital goals.
bypass desktops for smartphones. In 2017, we                  Fiber will be critical for accelerating Fibre-to-the-Home
downloaded over 12.1 billion apps, surpassing the US.         (FTTH) deployment and strengthening backhaul. Fast-
An Indian spends 8 hours and 28 minutes watching              tracking approvals and rationalising costs for RoW will
videos online every week, which is 20 minutes more            promote ease of installing telecom infrastructure.
than the time spent in front of a TV. Indians continue to
consume massive data, showing no sign of abating, with        The Government has unveiled a roadmap for India’s
usage picking up in rural areas. On an average, 2 in 3        digital future. The NDCP 2018 is a progressive policy
online searches are outside the top 6 metros, and 28%         that embeds broadband in the fabric of India’s digital
of queries on search apps are made by voice. The way          economy. The time is right to push the pedal on digital,
English speaking voice commands and assistants are            and focus on implementation to connect the
evolving to adopt many Indian languages and dialects,         unconnected, propel investments and build digital trust
one can imagine them breaking all linguistic and literacy     to secure the future.
barriers.
                                                              Fast forward to India 2022, 5 new mobile connections
Connectivity continues to change the narrative of how         per second are estimated to join the power of internet.
we shop, eat, stay healthy, live, use technology, play,       Nearly 50% of the households are likely to be
work and move. An Indian spends over 200 minutes on           connected through fixed broadband. The future is
the smartphone daily and this on-screen experience is         gigabit speed and 5G will power new waves of
shaping consumer behaviour. At the back of this, online       transformation. Connectivity will move beyond people
consumer spending is estimated to grow 2.5x to                to connect billion of devices, vehicles, household
US$100 billion by 2020 led by e-commerce, travel,             appliances and machines. In a hyper-connected India,
financial services and digital media.                         the Internet of Things has the potential to reach 2
                                                              billion connections, and unlock revenues of US$11.1
A lot happens in an online minute and a lot lost in case of   billion by 2022.
shutdown. As per estimates, 16,315 hours of Internet
shutdown in India cost the economy US$3.04 billion            The real opportunity is to look beyond technology, and
between 2012 and 2017, averaging to an hourly loss of         find ways to give people the ability to positively impact
US$186,332. Imagine the opportunity cost of over 650          their families, organisations and communities. At the
million offline Indians!                                      back of this, India has the potential to unlock a trillion
                                                              dollar digital economy by 2022 and lead the Fourth
Telecoms is the backbone for Digital India and Smart City     Industrial revolution.
visions. 5G deployments are likely to entail massive
investments to the tune of US$60 billion in the next five-    I thank Members of ASSOCHAM National Council on
six years. For a sector in distress, reassessing spectrum     Telecom and Convergence for their involvement and
strategy and rationalization of taxes and levies will be      valuable inputs. I hope this report helps us in shaping
encouraging for building future networks.                     the dialogue for accelerating Hon’ble Prime Minister’s
                                                              vision of a Digital India.
11

Executive
    summary
It is not just the number of people using the internet that has         Millions of new users in India join the power of internet every
increased, the amount of time that people spend on the                  year, and not just from the metros, but increasingly from
internet has also gone up significantly over the past 12                rural areas as well. Rural India constitutes nearly 40% of
months. An average user spends around 6 hours each day                  internet users, and account for over 65% of video
using internet devices and services – that’s roughly one-third          consumption in the country. India has come a long way in
of their waking lives. Adding this together, for all 4 billion of       realizing the socio-economic benefits of the digital
the world’s internet users, we spend a staggering 1 billion             ecosystem. However, over 65% of Indians are still offline,
years online in 2018. More than 3 billion people around the             outlining the untapped potential to transform the larger
world now use social media each month, and 9 in 10 of those             populace and unleash the benefits of being connected to the
users access it with their mobile devices1.                             information society.

India is leading data consumption globally                                Nearly 15 million Indian rural women became digitally
                                                                          literate through a real-time mobile data training
                                                                          campaign - bridging digital gender divide from 1:10 in
Over a billion of Indians are connected wirelessly, and nearly
                                                                          2015 (female to male) to 3:10 in 2017
460 million people are online. Together, we consumed over
2,360 PB of data past year – highest globally. India is clearly
a mobile-first economy with nearly 96% of internet                      Accelerating the digital transformation – NDCP 2018
subscribers connecting through mobile, much higher than                 The government has been a pivotal force behind India’s
the average for emerging markets at 80%. Increased                      digital makeover. A series of pro-growth reforms and
affordability of service has enabled almost one third of the            progressive policies laid the right foundation for growth.
Indians to pick mobile as their first and often preferred
means of going online.
                                                                        In 2014, the government unveiled a bold new vision for a
                                                                        Digital India. An aspiration to transition toward 100 Smart
    Data usage per subscriber per month (2017)
                                                                        Cities and taking electronic manufacturing to a new
                                                                        dimension with the “Make in India” endeavour. The economy
                                                   3.6x                 witnessed a wind of change with “Start-up India”, led by
                                                                        emergence of new generation of tech-based Indian start-
                                                                        ups. All of these have been instrumental in embedding a
                                                                        culture of digital In India.
                                                                11GB
              320MB                     3GB                            Making in India                       Enabling Fiber Connectivity

               2G                           3G                   4G         225m 60m                                  2.81 358
                                                                                                                          Lakh Kms          Kms
                                              8.6 GB                               2017        2014                           2018      2014
                                                  Average
Source: Nokia                                                           3.7x rise in handset manufactured
                                                                            and 115 new plants set up        117,319 GPs connected with Fiber

The pace with which India has adopted 4G has been                                                            Towards a less cash economy
                                                                       Enabling a smarter city
phenomenal. India took seven months to reach milestone of
100 million 4G subscribers, against eight years for 250                92           US$69.7b                       9m              190m
million connections on 3G. At the back of growing                      SPVs formed Cost for 1,333 projects     Active users    Monthly transactions
                                                                                                                 BHIM-UPI           BHIM-UPI
smartphone adoption and mobile data usage, consumer
                                                                                     US$1.1b outlay for                US$3.9b worth monthly
behaviour continues to change dramatically.                                          2018-19; 1.5X rise               transactions via BHIM-UPI

 1 “Digital in 2018 Global Overview”, Hootsuite, January 2018
12

Continuing this momentum, the government’s latest                 ► RoW charges to cover restoration cost only; costs to be
roadmap – the National Digital Communications Policy 2018,          rationalized for all RoW, not just FTTH
is a strategic aspiration to connect, propel, and secure
India’s digital economy. The transformative policy is a step      The government has emphasised importance of fibre for
change that goes beyond the paradigm of telecoms to               fixed broadband (to serve homes and enterprises) and next
embrace the opportunities across India’s thriving digital         generation mobile technology (4G/5G) transitions.
ecosystem.
                                                                  According telecom the status of critical and essential
 NDCP 2018 envisions to propel India towards a                    infrastructure will encourage building the future network.
                                                                  There is a need to extend all benefits that are provided to
      US$1 trillion digital economy by 2025
                                                                  critical infrastructure (e.g. union budgetary allocation,
                                                                  priority lending, priority electricity connections at
 An aspiration to connect the unconnected, propel                 preferential tariffs, extension of VGF, efficient deployment
 investments in digital and secure a culture of                   practices and security of the network). Efforts need to be
 digital trust by 2022                                            channelized toward accelerating infrastructure deployment,
                                                                  with focus on:
2022 Goals
                                                                  ► Providing incentives (tax rationalization, easy
        50 Mbps                              50%                    investment etc.) for roll-out and sharing of telecom
                                                                    infrastructure (fibre/ telecom towers)
     Universal broadband            Households with fixed         ► Enhancing the scope of IP-I players on a priority basis
         connectivity                broadband access             ► Creating a state-wise network/ broadband readiness
                                                                    index
            65%                        10 million                 ► Amending National Building Code to include common
                                                                    telecom infrastructure and create a common duct policy
        Unique mobile               Public Wi-Fi hotspots
                                                                  ► Providing uninterrupted power supply at industrial rates
      subscriber density
                                                                  Incentivizing tower deployment and encouraging using of
            60%                          5 billion                government land and buildings as potential cell sites will
       Telecom tower                    Connected IoT             expedite tower deployment.
        fiberization                     ecosystem
                                                                  Massive investments required to achieve 2022 goals
India’s digital construct exhibits underlying potential for its   India is expected to roll out 5G by 2020, in tune with the
1.3 billion people to rapidly embrace digital. Collaborative      world. 5G will be supporting a host of applications and use
efforts are needed to fast-track implementation and               cases in India, and is poised to play a huge role in socio-
accelerate growth for the Digital economy.                        economic uplift. Effective planning will be critical to unleash
                                                                  5G potential. Collaborative efforts should be made toward
Delivering the future-fit digital infrastructure                  fine-tuning use cases to build an effective ecosystem.

The Government intends to implement a ‘Fibre First                With that, there is a need to upgrade backhaul networks
Initiative’ through the NDCP 2018. Emergence of new               and fiberize minimum of 60% of mobile towers to support
technologies is set to multiply the consumption of data,          5G ecosystem. Critical considerations to be given towards:
necessitating the need for installing more towersA single
window clearance for fast-tracking approvals and                  ► Early allocation of adequate backhaul spectrum in the
rationalising costs for RoW will go a long way in easing            E and V bands for supporting high-bandwidth
installation of crucial telecom infrastructure. Efforts should      requirement (e.g. 5G); Rationalization of microwave
be directed towards simplifying and easing RoW by:                  charges
                                                                  ► Defining roadmap for spectrum use and availability
► Aligning state RoW policies with RoW rules as per               ► Optimally pricing spectrum for auctions
  Gazette notification of 2016                                    ► Enhancing scope of active infrastructure sharing to
► Encouraging an online portal for time bound approvals of          include backhaul
  RoW
                                                                  ► Simplifying SACFA processes - Consider one SACFA
► Expediting RoW payment clearance with defined
  timelines                                                         clearance within stipulated time per physical location
► Regularizing all existing infrastructure as per the state       ► No delicensing of spectrum within any band which has
  telecom policy and aligning with RoW rule within a                already been identified for use by IMT or being
  stipulated period of time                                         considered to be used for IMT
13

Significant investments will be needed to support 5G             ► Encouraging penalty provisions to be proportionate to
rollouts due to network densification and increase in base         quantum of violation or shortcoming
stations. As per estimates, US$60 billion of capital             ► Rationalizing interest rates and penalties for delayed
expenditure over the next five to six years is required to         payment of License Fee/ SUC
deploy services. India should aim for a gigabit society, and     ► Simplifying existing mechanism and procedures for grant of
an interplay of fixed and mobile technologies will be critical     licenses and specifying timelines within which permissions
to meet the goals of 2022.                                         and clearances are to be provided.

Improving financial health of the sector for a digital           Building digital trust for a secure India
future
                                                                 Technology is creating new opportunities. As more products and
                                                                 services are digitally delivered, robust data privacy and security
Financial distress of the telecoms sector is a critical          measures will be needed to uphold consumer trust in the digital
concern. Telecoms is one of the highest taxed sectors            ecosystem.
globally, with multiple taxes and levies accounting for nearly
32% of the total revenues. Sector debt is escalating, and is
                                                                 The government is committed towards establishing a robust
nearly ~2x sector’s annual revenues.
                                                                 framework to secure the digital future. A concentrated push is
                                                                 required to develop and strengthen a future-fit framework.
There is a dire need to ease the financial burden to
strengthen viability. Urgent interventions are required to
                                                                 Efforts needs to be directed towards:
rationalize levies:
                                                                 ► Striking a balance between data protection and innovation,
                                                                    while keeping citizens data secure and protected
► Suspending USOF contribution till the entire amount of
  corpus gets fully disbursed; alternatively, lowering USOF      ► Permitting cross-border data flows subject to necessary
  contribution to 3%                                                safeguards. All critical personal data and data pertaining to
► Reducing remaining License Fee from 3% to 1% of AGR               national interest/ security of States should be located in
► No SUC for spectrum acquired through auctions; only a             servers in India
  fixed fee administrative cost can be considered                ► Ensuring protection of critical telecom infrastructure
► Rescheduling spectrum payment from 16 to 18 years –               through relevant clauses in the state government policies
  with a two year moratorium; realign interest rates with        ► Setting-up sector specific nodal bodies to manage and
  market realities                                                  govern overall cyber-security aspects
► Settling long pending AGR related disputes
                                                                 ► Promoting ‘security by design’ approach for communication
► Simplifying and automation of AGR verification process
                                                                    devices
► License fee deducted at Source (LfDS) should be adopted
  as per TRAI Recommendations on AGR dated January
  2015                                                           Moving beyond technology to power growth

Additionally, the government needs to address tax-related        The policy lays emphasis on becoming self-sustainable from
concerns, including:                                             being self-sufficient. With the right kind of approach, India has
                                                                 the capability to “Make in India” for the world and establish itself
► Reducing GST on telecom services from 18% to 12%
                                                                 as a world class telecom equipment manufacturing hub.
► Receive refund of unutilized input tax credit under GST
  to ease cash flow issues of service providers                  Encouraging local production of handsets, routers and modems
► Adopting principle of input line credit: TSPs should be        and other related equipment in the value chain should be
  allowed to claim deductions on account of charges paid         encouraged. Efforts must be directed towards:
  to other TSPs
► Customs duty on 4G/5G related network products to be           ► Defining roadmap for in-country / global testing and
  brought down from 20% to 0%                                      certifications for telecom equipment
► Clarity on specific tax issues to reduce litigation and        ► Developing programs to enhance local R&D for creating
  uncertainties on withholding tax in telecom
                                                                   world-class manufacturing enterprises
► 200% tax benefit on R&D expenditure to be extended for
  the next 5 years for R&D and IPR design based end-to-          ► Incentivizing R&D for India-specific fiber and cables through
  end complex manufacturing                                        special grants
► Increase export incentives (MEIS) to 7% and All Industry       ► Encouraging set up of fabrication units for chipsets to
  Rate (AIR) duty drawback by 2% from current                      support local electronics manufacturing
► Goods and services in complete supply chain of optic
  fibre be taxed at 12% or lower                                 All these enablers have the potential to accelerate the ability to
                                                                 achieve Digital India vision. Attracting US$100 billion
Adopting a light-touch regulatory regime to simplify
                                                                 investments for the sector to fuel growth requires a
compliance and streamline processes, including:
                                                                 collaborative effort by all stakeholders.
14

            Growth in data is fueling India’s mobile-first
            digital economy

          98
                         53m                  #1 China

                                                         4
                         16m       #2 India
                         6m #3 Indonesia                     billion           802m           #1 China

          million        23m          Rest of World          000000000         460m     #2 India

 Net additions to global mobile subscriptions                   Online population globally
                    (1Q18)                                               (2018)

     20.5
                                                          Emergence of mobile-first digital
                                                                   economies
      users per second
                                                         Indonesia
     India net adds to
       global mobile
      subscriptions in
                                                             97.6%
           1Q18
                                                                                         India
                           13.7x
                         faster to reach 100m 4G users
                                                                                95.9%
                                                          Brazil
                            India took 7 months to
                           reach milestone, against
                               8 years for 250m
                                                             87.7%
                              connections on 3G
                                                                             China
                                                                                74.7%

                                                               Mobile as % of broadband users (2018)
15

                                                                Data

                                              76PB              consumed
                                                                per day
                                                   India #1 globally
                                                                                         69PB
                                                                                         1.1x China
                                                                                                                     53PB
                                                                                                                      1.7x USA

                                                              175billion
                                                               Global app downloads
                                                                      (2017)

                                                                                                       79%
                                                        65billion 12billion                        Web traffic via mobile
                                                                                                   India #1 | Nigeria #2
                                                          #1 China          #2 India

                                           Top smartphone markets globally

                                           Smartphone traffic/month (2017)                 Steep rise in smartphone adoption
           #1 China

                                                5.7EB
                                                                                                 Smartphone adoption (%)
                                                                      India              Region                  2017       % change
           #2 India
                                                                                         India                    45%           12 pps
                                                                                         MENA                     57%           11 pps
           #3 USA                          2.3EB                7.2EB                    Latin America            62%            7 pps
                                           2.5x China           0.8x USA
                                                                                         Africa                   33%            5 pps

Sources: EY analysis, Ericsson Mobility Report, GSMA Mobile Economy 2018, Cisco VNI, TRAI, press and media reports, App Annie
16

     Enabling and transforming the lives of 1.3 billion
     Indians with a click and tick

        Agriculture
        • India #6 globally on agri-tech investments
                • 53 Indian start-ups raised US$313 million (10%
                   of global investment) in 2016
        • 16.9 million tons of farm produce worth US$6 billion
           sold through 585 agri-mandis (e-NAM platform) in past
           two years
                                                                         Railways
                                                                         • 20,000 e-tickets/ minute
         20% to     Potential improvement in yield of                        booked on IRCTC; 10x increase
                                                                             from 2014
         30%        major broad-acre crops using digital
                    platforms for farming                                • 675 Wi-Fi enabled station; 45x
                                                                             increase since 2016
                                                                                  • Target of 8,500 Wi-Fi
                                                                                     stations by 2019

           Education                                                      US$       Savings targeted
           • 15 million women trained under Internet Saathi –           8.3 billion by Indian railways
              digital literacy programme                                             through use of ERP
                                                                                     systems for
                   • Bridging digital gender divide in rural                         bringing all rail
                       India from 1:10 (2015) to 3:10 (2017)
                                                                                     operations online

              US$       Estimated size of India’s online
            1.9 billion education market by 2021; 7.8x
                         rise from 2016

                             Travel
                             • 1.29m e-Visas granted till 2017; 2.5x
                                 increase since 2015
                                      • E-Visa services available to
                                           nationals of 162 countries

                                      US$        Estimated sales of online
                                    39.1 billion travel by 2021; 1.8x rise
                                                    from 2017
17

      E-commerce
      • B2C e-commerce accounted for 18.8%
          of the US$629 billion overall retail sales
          in 2017
      • Current e-commerce penetration at
          28%; expected to increase at CAGR of
          23% till 2021
                                                        Entertainment
                                                        • In 2017, 250 million people watched
 US$            2.5x increase in online                     online videos, 1.6x increase in a year
100   billion   spending by 2020                        • 177 million people accessed news
                                                            digitally in 2017, generating 14 billion
                                                            minutes of usage across the top 15
                                                            news medium

                                                                       2x projected rise in online
                                                            500        video audience by 2020;
                                                          million
                                                                       India to be #2 globally
          Healthcare
        • US$ 15 million size of telemedicine
            market, 2x rise since 2012
        • e-pharmacy industry estimated at
            US$142 million. To account for ~15% of
            overall healthcare market in three-five
            years

US$3        Expected size of e-pharmacy
billion
            industry by 2024; growing at
            CAGR of 20%
                                                       Financial services
                                                       • M-wallet transactions reached US$13.2
                                                         billion in 2017; 40x increase since 2013

                                                            US$        Expected size of digital
                                                        1   trillion   payments by 2023; 5x rise
                                                                       from 2018
18

         National Digital Communication Policy 2018 is a
         robust framework in tune with the times

                              Strategic objectives by 2022

                                                                            Enhance
                                                                            contribution to
              Provisioning                                                  global value chains
          broadband for all

Creating 4 million
   additional jobs

                                                                              Ensure digital
                                                                              sovereignty

Top 50 Nations in
ICT Development
 Index from #137                                                      8%
                                                             Contribution to GDP
                                                             from 6% in 2017

                                 Unlocking a
                                trillion dollar
                               digital economy
                                   by 2025
19

           Building a better digital future – 2022 goals

     Attract               US$100                                          billion in investments

                                   Efforts to connect, propel and secure India

2018                                       Connect India
                                           “Broadband for All” to foster socio-economic
                                           development, service quality and encourage
                                           environmental sustainability
                                                                                                          50
                                                                                                         Mbps
                                                                                                                        Universal
                                                                                                                        broadband
                                                                                                                        connectivity

        Fixed                              ► Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram
    broadband           25                    Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022
        speed          Mbps                ► Enable 100 Mbps broadband on demand to                                     Households
                                              all key development institutions                                          with fixed
                                           ► Ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas                    50%          broadband
   Households                                                                                                           access
    with fixed
    broadband
                        8.1%
       access                              Propel India
                                           Enable next generation technologies and
                                                                                                                        Unique mobile
                                           services through investments, innovation and
                                           IPR generation                                                  65%          subscriber
Unique mobile                                                                                                           density
   subscriber           53%                ► Attract investments of US$100 billion in
      density                                 the digital communications sector
                                           ► Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion
                                              connected devices
                                           ► Accelerate transition to Industry 4.0
                                                                                                          10            Public Wi-Fi
  Public Wi-Fi          0.04               ► Increase India’s contribution to global                                    hotspots
    hotspots           million                value chains                                               million
                                           ► Creation of globally recognized IPRs
                                           ► Train/ re-skill 1 million manpower for
                                              building new age skills
Telecom tower
   fiberization         25%                                                                                             Telecom tower
                                                                                                           60%          fiberisation
                                           Secure India
                                           Ensure digital sovereignty, safety and security
                                           of digital ecosystem
    Connected           0.87               ► Establish a comprehensive data protection
      devices          billion                 regime for digital communications
                                                                                                            5           Connected IoT
                                           ► Develop and deploy robust digital                                          ecosystem
                                               communication network security                            billion
                                               frameworks

                                                                                                                  2022
                                           ► Address security issues relating to
                                               encryption and security clearances

 Sources: EY Analysis, EY CII Report, #Broadband 2022 – unlocking trillion dollar economy, GSMA Mobile Economy 2018, press and
 media reports, National Digital Communications Policy 2018 - Department of Telecommunications
20

 Mission 1                                            Connect India toward a Gigabit society

With the power of internet and smartphones, one can now                                       Significant progress has been made on connectivity. It took
connect with anyone, at anytime and anywhere.                                                 seven months to reach milestone of 100 million 4G
Technological innovation and broadband connectivity is                                        subscriptions, against eight years for 250 million
considered as a major stimulus for economic growth. The                                       connections on 3G. 4G is the key driver behind increasing
impact of the internet on society continues to be far                                         users’ appetite towards data consumption, capturing 82%
reaching at multiple levels.                                                                  share of total data traffic in 2017. Data usage on mobile
                                                                                              devices reached the levels of some of the developed
Currently, there are nearly 7.8 billion mobile subscribers –                                  markets in 2017.
driving the global mobile penetration to 103%. 67% of total
mobile subscribers are connected to mobile broadband,                                         There is need for a combination of fixed and wireless
growing 15x faster than fixed broadband in 2017.                                              technologies to meet the goals of Connected India. This is
                                                                                              important because it is the use of digital assets that drives
In 1Q18, one in every four new mobile connections globally                                    productivity gains and economic growth.
were added in India. By 2025, even though the rate of
mobile addition will pace down, 1.7 billion new mobile                                        High speed internet is a basic right
connections will be added globally. Out of that one in five
are likely to be from India, positioning it as the fastest                                    In 2017, the Supreme Court declared internet access as a
growing telecoms market after China.                                                          basic fundamental right for all Indians – one that cannot be
                                                                                              curtailed and blocked at any cost. While this was a step in
Data is charting a new growth story in India. In the past two                                 the right direction, nearly 65% of Indians are still offline,
years, India’s mobile economy has reached major                                               outlining the potential of connecting the underserved.
milestones, carving a unique digital identity globally.                                       Currently, India lags in average internet speed globally –
                                                                                              2.3x and 2.5x lower than global averages for fixed and
Mobile broadband has been a pivotal force behind the                                          mobile broadband, respectively. The NDCP 2018 envisages
digital transformation in India. In 2017, nearly 2.5                                          50 Mbps universal broadband access to every citizen.
connections were added every second, crossing the                                             Ensuring pervasive connectivity for a country of our size is
milestone mark of 500 million internet subscribers.                                           a complex and daunting task.
Collectively, India consumed over 76 PB data per day -
propelling India to become the largest consumer of data                                         Fixed broadband average                               Mobile broadband
globally, outpacing major economies like China (69 PB/day)                                               speed                                         average speed
and USA (53 PB/day).
                                                                                                    India: 25.02 Mbps                                 India: 8.85 Mbps
                                                                                                    Global: 49.26 Mbps                                Global: 23.6 Mbps
Data usage on mobile device per subscriber                                                    Source: Ookla
                           11,095

                                       10,029

                                                       9,599

                                                                8,859

                                                                             8,275

                 1 20 00
                                                                                      7,060

                                                                                                6,315

                 1 00 00
                                                                                                              5,750

                                                                                                                             5,434

                                                                                                                                          5,011
      Mb/month

                  8 00 0
                                                                                                                                                           3,351

                                                                                                                                                                       2,507

                  6 00 0

                  4 00 0

                  2 00 0

                      0
                                                                                     Italy
                                        South Korea

                                                                                                                                                            Thailand
                                                                             Japan

                                                                                                                                                                       Indonesia
                                                                                                                 Singapore
                                                                                                   Spain
                                                       France

                                                                India 2017

                                                                                                                             India 2016

                                                                                                                                           Malaysia
                            UK

                                    Mobile device usage on Wi-Fi network                                Mobile device usage on mobile network

      Source: Nokia
21

  Bridging the digital divide                                                            The economic potential of digital technologies is enormous,
                                                                                         but to reap the benefits for the digital economy, the
  Developing ICT infrastructure initiates a chain reaction to                            ecosystem will need to come together to maximize
  growth. The Global Connectivity Index (GCI) 2017 outlines                              productivity benefits and work toward:
  the impact of early digital adoption on inequality and
  economic growth. As illustrated in the image, digital                                  ►   Getting more people online and promoting digital
  “Frontrunners”, who embraced digital earlier have                                          entrepreneurship
  accumulated an advantage over time. “Frontrunners” had a                               ►   Establishing supportive infrastructure for the ecosystem
  far greater impact on nominal GDP per capita, compared to                                  to thrive
  “Adopters” and “Starters”. The widening of the “S-Curve”                               ►   Creating an enabling environment for benefits to
  indicates deepening socio-economic inequality1.                                            cascade across sectors
                                                                                         ►   Investing smartly and quickly in digital technologies

                                                              Frontrunners               Towering demand for building digital infrastructure
Nominal GDP per capital US$’000

                                                                  +4.7
                                                              60,6    65.2               The emergence of new technologies is set to multiply the
                                                                                         consumption of data, necessitating the need for installing
                                                                                         more towers. Additionally, 100,000 telecom towers will be
                                              Adopters                                   required to meet the growing demand for data across the
                                               +4.5                                      country.
                                   Starters         44.3
                                             39.7                                        According telecom infrastructure the status of Critical and
                                     +2.4                         GCI 2017 S-curve
                                         30.2                     GCI 2017 S-curve       Essential Infrastructure will go a long way in delivering the
                                  27.8                            Score change           digital infrastructure. Moreover, incentivizing tower
                                                                  Average scores         deployment and availability of land and buildings as
                                                                                         potential cell sites in government facilities, will expedite
                                                                                         tower deployment.
Source: GCI 2017 score, Digital Spillover by Huawei
                                                                                         Towards a fiber first agenda
              Countries                                    GCI Score
                                                                                         Currently, fixed broadband has a minuscule play in India’s
              Frontrunners                                                               connectivity scenario, accounting for only 4.1% of India’s
              USA                                                             77         internet access. Fixed line infrastructure is being actively
                                                                                         developed, with the government driving rural connectivity
              Singapore                                                       75
                                                                                         agenda through BharatNet and GramNet. Telecom
              Adopters                                                                   operators are committed to and investing in fiber in the
                                                                                         country. Increasing need for high-speed fixed broadband
              UAE                                                             52
                                                                                         access is likely to be the primary driver for FTTH adoption in
              Italy                                                           49         India. Going forward, FTTH is expected to account for a
                                                                                         majority of the fixed broadband connections by 2022,
              Starters                                                                   helping to realise the Government’s target of covering 50%
              Indonesia                                                       33         of households. The NDCP 2018 recognizes need for
                                                                                         establishing a National Fiber Grid.
              India                                                           32

Source: Global Connectivity Index 2017

   1. “Digital Spillover – Measuring the true impact of digital economy, Huawei and Oxford Economics, 2017
22

Global trends suggest there is a direct link between fiber                          The Gazette Notification on RoW issued by the Government
consumption with evolution of technologies. A study noted                           in 2016, is an effort to expedite the deployment of
that the capex spent by top 15 telcos globally rose 1.6x                            underground (e.g. fibre) and over-ground (e.g. towers)
during 2011-17 (period of 3G to 4G transition), while fiber                         infrastructure. However, these new rules are yet to bring
consumption grew 3x faster. This establishes the role of                            benefits to the Indian telecom sector due to lack of clarity
fiber in supporting the digital economy endeavours. With 5G                         and implementation delays2. Renewed focus on accelerated
on the anvil, developing a best in class infrastructure will be                     RoW permissions for telecom towers in government
critical.                                                                           premises is encouraging.

Fiberization of towers is critical in India. Nearly 60% of the                      By focusing on the right mix of accelerators, RoW
towers will need to be fiberized by 2022, as outlined in the                        permissions can be expedited to promote timely rollouts.
NDCP 2018. As demand for 4G and then 5G grows,
networks will become denser and deeper – making
fiberization an imperative.
                                                                                      Key RoW considerations

Global fiber deployment (million fiber km)                                            •   Simplifying norms to promote single window
                                                         5,362                            clearance mechanism for time–bound approvals and
                                                                                          facilitating online portals to expedite processes
                                                2X times fiber is likely
                                                to be deployed due to                 •   Enhancing the ease of rolling out telecoms
                                2,681                    5G                               infrastructure by facilitating uniform guidelines
                                                                                          across states aligned with RoW rules
                         4.5X fiber deployed
          607            due to shift from 3G                                         •   Accelerated RoW permissions for telecom towers in
                             to 4G+FTTH                                                   government premises
3G (2002 to 2008) - 4G (2009 to 2017) - 5G (2018 to 2026) -                           •   Rationalizing RoW costs on fiber-to-the-home
    cumulative          cumulative          cumulative                                    (FTTH), which still remains expensive compared to
    deployment          deployment          deployment                                    other countries
Source: Sterlite
                                                                                      •   Creating a collaborative institutional mechanism
                                                                                          between centre, states and local bodies for Common
Expediting RoW                                                                            RoW, standardization of costs and timelines and
                                                                                          removal of barriers for approvals
RoW challenges in India largely stem from fragmented and
non-uniform policies adopted by various states and local
bodies. Moreover, FTTH construction cost per subscriber is
higher in India as compared to other countries. Civil work is a
major contributor to RoW costs in deploying FTTH.

                                      Tower fiberization                               Deployment                           Optical fiber rollout,
                                                                                                                              fkm per capita
                              In India, 25% of telecom towers              Fiberizing 70% of the towers will
                               carry fiber optics; the average              require an estimated 600,000                         China: 0.9x
                                in the US, China and Korea is                 fKm; (excluding small cell                         India: 0.1x
                                          65%-80%                                    deployment)                                  US: 1.4x

                             Source: EY #Broadband2022 – Unlicking a trillion dollar digital economy

 2. “Right of Way rules: The effects of implementation delay on India's telecom industry,” The Economic Times,
     https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/right-of-way-rules-the-effects-of-implementation-delay-on-india-telecom-industry/59855964, accessed 5
     November 2018.
23

Strengthening wireless backhaul                                            Powering ease of doing business

Allocation of E (71-86 GHz) and V (57-71 GHz) band                         In November 2017, TRAI issued recommendations on the
spectrum is crucial for supporting high-bandwidth wireless                 “Ease of Doing Telecom Business”. This is a welcome move
backhaul networks. The exponential increase in data                        by the regulator that will go a long way in supporting the
consumption in India has significantly strained the existing               growth of the telecom sector. To achieve the goal of
backhaul capacity based on Microwave. High quality                         breaking into the top 50 rankings on Ease of doing Business
backhaul through E and V bands is becoming increasingly                    by 2022, immediate simplification of clearance processes
critical, especially as the fiberization process is being                  especially for broadband infrastructure deployment is
completed. The E and V bands can be used for providing                     required. Currently, TSPs have to approach multiple
rapid and economical backhaul deployment in dense urban                    agencies for the “No Objection Certificates” for installation
routes as last mile solutions and can be an alternative to                 of towers on government land and buildings. A time-bound
fibre backhaul.                                                            single window clearance for approval and installation of
                                                                           towers will be greatly beneficial.
It is imperative that a policy for sharing backhaul, simplifying
SACFA processes, publishing spectrum use and availability
roadmap be put in place at the earliest. IMT identified
spectrum not to be de-licensed.
From passive sharing to active sharing

Passive network sharing was the hallmark of the Indian
telecom sector, allowing operators to rapidly expand
network coverage in a cost effective manner. As a
progressive step, the DoT approved active infrastructure
sharing in February 2016, helping to reduce telecom
operator capex and operational costs.

For 5G, operators may look at creating net-cos or network
companies by segregating their networks from operations,
pooling their active networks together. A netco model would
lead to efficiencies in operation and lead to prudent use of
resources, especially with the high cost of 5G rollout.

 FTTH construction cost per subscriber (US$)

   $1,611      $1,580

                           $1,108
                                        $810        $745
                                                                   $450       $432
                                                                                          $334       $307
                                                                                                                 $200

    South       India        UK       Germany     Sri Lanka        Spain    Malaysia    Indonesia   Thailand     China
    Africa

 Source: ITU, EY analysis
24

Innovative model for fiber deployment

 Leading operators are now mulling ways to reduce the capex            public private partnership (PPP) model for BharatNet project
 associated with fiber deployments. Infrastructure sharing and         adopted last year are two timely steps to boost the
 leasing are gaining popularity among mobile and cable                 infrastructure sharing efforts. Combined with this, a
 operators in developing markets. In India, the DoT’s                  consensus on RoW will further expedite the efforts.
 amendment of unified license scheme for active infrastructure
 sharing and the revised

                                                     Fiber deployment models

     Telco                           FiberCo                            TowerCo                              Utilities

     The telecom operator             Any independent fiber             Indian TowerCos                 Utilities use their
     lays the fiber and               company can take up               under the current               existing infrastructure
     operates it as part of           the role of a FiberCo             license conditions, can         and RoW permissions
     the network                      where they offer dark             offer dark fiber and            for laying out dark
                                      or lit fiber, based on            lease it out to service         fiber and lease it out
     Telcos can off-load their        license conditions                providers                       to service providers
     fiber assets and form a
     FiberCo

                                               Acquire additional licenses to move from dark fiber to lit fiber leasing

                                                Opex based deployment methods

                        Fiber-grid                                                      Build-operate-transfer

         A fiber-grid model can be explored                                   Sell a portion or the entirety of a fiber
         where the fiber assets of all owners are                             network to a third party or asset manager
         aggregated to build a one-stop shop for
         dark fiber on a pan-India basis
                                                                             Monetizing prior investments in a fiber
                                                                             network through a build-operate-transfer
         The owners together can operate and                                 model would provide liquidity for
         maintain the entire pool of fiber assets                            independent players and utilities in the
         and drive planned expansions                                        fiber business

     Utility as a wholesale operator, with government ownership or under government initiative

     ►   Modelled around a joint-venture with the government or funding based relationship with the government
     ►   Utility leads fiber roll-outs backed by government funding, specially for driving rural broadband

     Utility as a wholesale operator with telco partnership

     ►   The utility offers wholesale services to telecom operators
     ►   Telcos use the fiber network for rendering services
Industry inputs to
     Connect India

Building the road ahead require collaborative efforts. Industry calls for interventions have been categorized under three critical
agendas – RoW, spectrum management, and infrastructure deployment and sharing. These have been bucketed under short and
medium term considerations defined by implementation timeline.

 Short term (0-3 months)                  Medium term (3-9 months)                   Long term (9 months and beyond)
 Requires an executive order              Require multi-stakeholder and              Considerations that endorse the
 or already under                         regulatory consultation for                national vision and need significant
 consideration                            implementation                             effort

 Right of Way
 Single window clearance or single point of contact for approval and installation of telecom
 infrastructure (e.g., fiber, towers)
 ► All state RoW policies to be aligned with RoW rules as per Gazette notification of 2016
 ► Online portal RoW facilitating single window for time bound approvals
 ► RoW payment clearance with defined timelines to enhance payment predictability                           Short term
 ► All existing infrastructure should be regularized as per the state telecom policy aligned with RoW
     rule within a stipulated period of time
 ► RoW charges should cover restoration cost only; costs to be rationalized for all RoW, not just
     FTTH

  Spectrum management
 Ensure early allocation of adequate backhaul spectrum (E and V bands) for addressing growing
 broadband requirements as well as rationalization of microwave charges
 ► Roadmap for spectrum use and availability
 ► Optimal reserve prices for spectrum auctions
                                                                                                            Short term
 Simplifying Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA) processes
 ► Consider one SACFA clearance within stipulated time per physical location
 No delicensing of spectrum within any band which has already been identified for use by IMT or
 being considered to be used for IMT
 Ensure availability of harmonized and contiguous spectrum in the 3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz (mobility
                                                                                                            Long term
 applications) and 26/28 GHz (nomadic and fixed wireless access) bands for 5G technology
26

     Infrastructure deployment and sharing
 Enhance the scope of Infrastructure Providers (IP-Is) on a priority basis to accelerate the
 proliferation of various digital services such as Public Wi-Fi hotspots, etc.
 ► IBS (In Building Solution) active sharing through IP-Is to be allowed

 Urgently create a network/ broadband readiness index that will map the states in terms of Ease of     Short term
 Doing Telecom Business

 Provide incentives (tax rationalization, easy investment, etc.) for roll-out and sharing of telecom
 infrastructure (fiber/ telecom towers)

 Amend National Building Code (NBC) to ensure buildings are not accorded approvals till necessary
 Common Telecom Infrastructure (CTI) is in place
 ► Include fiber along with water, electricity and gas pipelines in NBC
 A common duct policy to be formed and should cover provisions for deploying Common Telecom
 Infrastructure (CTI) during construction of new highways, roads and civil infrastructure
 National Fiber Authority to consider both underground and over ground telecom infrastructure
                                                                                                       Medium term
 Create guidelines and policies for FTTH
 Scope of active infrastructure sharing can be enhanced to include backhaul

 Create policy for deployment of towers on government lands and buildings

 Issue guidelines on release of street furniture (lamp posts and utility poles, etc.) for mounting
 infrastructure elements to IP-Is
27

 Mission 2                            Propel India to lead in a digital era

A couple of decades ago, a 3.5 inch floppy disk could store      M2M and IoT use cases span industries
1.4 MB of data. Today, the improvised versions of HD drives
stores nearly 8TB of data, equivalent to data stored in 12         Healthcare                             Agriculture
billion floppy disks.
Era of digitalization is rewriting the ways of connectivity.      ►    Remote monitoring          ►   Monitoring crop yields,
The world has come a long way from the dot com revolution                                             rainfall, pesticide, soil,
                                                                  ►    Telemedicine                   etc.
and the era of desktop computers. By 2021, India's internet
traffic will be equivalent to 1 billion DVDs per month, or 2      ►    Remote surgery             ►   Environmental control
million DVDs per hour 3.

Everything that can connect, will be connected                     Public safety                      Power and utilities

Connectivity is bringing businesses together – creating new       ►    Women and child            ►   Smart meter, smart
markets and opportunities for companies and governments                safety                         grid
to grow and compete in a connected world. Various                 ►    Alarms and                 ►   Facilities management
industries are riding on the telecom wave to tap on a new              surveillance
breed of digital consumers and unlocking an era of                                                ►   Equipment
“industrial mash-ups”. We are looking at a future of limitless    ►    Connected cameras              management
possibilities. From “Mobile Now” to “Consumer Now”, we’ll
see digital shaping new behaviours in every sphere of life -               Education                       Logistics
from how we shop, eat, stay healthy, live to how we use
technology, play, work and move.                                   ►    Track objects,            ►   Fleet management
                                                                        students, staff               and optimization
With digital at the core, everything that can connect, will be
                                                                   ►    Instructional                 Navigation and fuel
connected. Emergence of new technologies – Internet-of-                                           ►
                                                                        design                        management
Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) – are set to
catalyse connectivity beyond recognition.
IoT will see seamless connectivity move beyond                         Financial service                 Automotive
smartphones and gadgets - to connect billions of devices,
vehicles, household appliances, monitors and sensors.              ►    Remote sales              ►   Infotainment and
Smart and intelligent automation will redefine life in the              management                    positioning services
hyper-connected world. This new system of sensors and                                                 In-car emergency
                                                                   ►    Mobile point of           ►
networks is emerging as a major innovation that will be                                               systems
                                                                        sales
deeply embedded in all aspects of the city, its functions and
society at large.                                                                                 ►   Remote diagnostics

 NDCP 2018 lays thrust on driving IoT and growth of              Adoption of massive mobile type communication (mMTC)
 emerging technologies in India                                  and critical mobile type communication (cMTC) will see
                                                                 robotic manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, remote
 •   Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices         medical surgery and smart shop floors become a reality. It
                                                                 will help to improve efficiency, increase business value,
 •   Accelerate transition to Industry 4.0                       provide better insights for decision making and enable
 •   Roadmap for emerging technologies and its use in the        remote management.
     communications sector, such as 5G, AI, Robotics,
     IoT, Cloud Computing and M2M                                Endorsing a purpose led growth agenda

 •   Simplifying licensing and regulatory frameworks             Propelling India to thrive in a digital era will require
     whilst ensuring appropriate security frameworks for         governments and organizations to work toward a purpose-
     IoT / M2M / future services and network elements            led digital growth. Forging a successful digital future will
 •   Earmarking adequate licensed and unlicensed                 mean enhancing and building capabilities in-house and
     spectrum for IoT/ M2M services                              creating a regulatory environment conducive to growth.

                                                                 Thrust should be towards:
Preparing for the change to Industry 4.0
                                                                 ► Providing a balanced framework with light touch
                                                                   regulations for licensing
Industry 4.0 is the digital transformation of industrial
                                                                 ► Introducing a Pan-India unified license
markets – representing the fourth industrial revolution on
                                                                 ► Simplifying and harmonizing licensing norms to equalize
the road to end-to-end value chain with Industrial IoT and
                                                                   policies for competing technologies
decentralized intelligence in manufacturing, production,
                                                                 ► Encouraging future-fit regulation for all players offering
logistics and the industry.
                                                                   same or similar services

3. “Cisco VNI index, Forecasts for 2106 – 2021” , Cisco
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