Centre for Internet & Society

A New Telecom Policy That Works

by Shyam Ponappa

A sound NTP-2018 requires sustainable, integrated policies that address our realities.

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Broadband Reforms for Local Manufacturing

by Shyam Ponappa

Broadband in India needs reforms for local manufacturing and for infrastructure expansion and utilisation.

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Policies to Sustain India's Market

by Shyam Ponappa

The question is whether policies can be better framed to harness the market potential. Why is so much investment flowing into India's securities markets?

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Organisational Hurdles in Telecom

by Shyam Ponappa

The mobile telephony sector has not just plateaued but begun a downward spiral, with revenues dropping for the first time in a decade after Reliance Jio’s entry, by about 20 per cent. Considering the staggering government collections of around Rs 3,00,000 crore by way of charges and taxes over the past decade from investments of about Rs 2,00,000 crore, it would appear that the sector has paid too dearly.

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A Pathfinding Approach for Digital India

by Shyam Ponappa

It's not only the installation of the OFC, but of ensuring quality and reliability.

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Cashlessness Needs Connectivity

by Shyam Ponappa

And connectivity needs political and administrative convergence. This new year brings with it uncertainties amidst the push for cashlessness. Without going into the demerits or otherwise, some clarity on a road map to go forward from where we are might help with realistic planning to manage our way out of this situation.

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CIS Submission to TRAI Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks

by Japreet Grewal, Pranesh Prakash, Sharath Chandra, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Sunil Abraham, and Udbhav Tiwari, with expert comments from Amelia Andersdotter

​This submission presents responses by the CIS on the ​Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks published by the TRAI on November 15, 2016. Our analysis of the solution proposed in the Note, in brief, is that there is no need of a solution for non-existing interoperability problem for authentication and payment services for accessing public Wi-Fi networks. The proposed solution in this Note only adds to over-regulation in this sector, and does not incentivise new investment in the sector, but only establishes UIDAI and NPCI as the monopoly service providers for authentication and payment services.

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A Market Structure for Digital India

by Shyam Ponappa

If delivery is priced below cost, communications services will be unsustainable and ineffective. The stress in the telecom sector is evident from the data. The market capitalisation of listed telecom operators has been stagnant since the 3G auction in 2010, while the government collected Rs 2.83 lakh crore of non-tax charges from them.

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Digital India Needs These Policy Changes

by Shyam Ponappa

Appropriate policies will increase connectivity much more than spectrum auctions.

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CIS Submission to TRAI Consultation on Proliferation of Broadband through Public Wi­Fi Networks

by Sunil Abraham, Sharath Chandra Ram, Vidushi Marda, and Thejaswi Melarkode

The Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) is grateful for the opportunity to comment on this Consultation Paper (“Paper”). The comments were prepared by Sunil Abraham, Sharath Chandra Ram, Vidushi Marda, and Thejaswi Melarkode. Special thanks to Shyam Ponappa and Arjun Venkatraman for their inputs and feedback.

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