Broadband on demand, transparent allocation of spectrum, free roaming and number portability throughout the country are the main highlights of the New National Telecom Policy, NTP. Unveiling the draft NTP in New Delhi yesterday, Communication Minister Kapil Sibal announced strategies to increase rural reach, higher broadband speeds and more funding options for operators and a new law on spectrum allocation. He said there would be a separate spectrum Act and clear policies on spectrum sharing, pooling and trading. Allocation of spectrum will be delinked from telecom licences and be done through market mechanisms. He also made it clear that revenue generation will play a secondary role and the new policy is designed to transform the socio-economic scenario through accelerated, equitable and inclusive economic growth, by laying emphasis on providing affordable, quality services in rural and remote areas.

The thrust areas include increasing rural teledensity from 35 to 100 percent by 2020, ensuring broadband on demand, 600 million connections by 2020 and grant of one nationwide licence. Other highlights of the new policy are to provide infrastructure status to telecom for better financial options, a new company to help fund telecom projects, appropriate policy for firms wishing to exit the telecom business, and a new fund to promote domestic research and manufacturing.

Our correspondent reports that the revised rules, which will replace the existing framework that has been in place since 1999, aims to make the country's telecommunications sector more transparent, relax merger and acquisition norms to encourage consolidation and also give more teeth to sector regulator TRAI. The new Telecom Policy is futuristic, business- and consumer-friendly and looks at the growth of broadband and web base convergence.