New telecom policy by February, says Communications Minister Manoj Sinha

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said a draft will be released by December-end for public comments. File Photo

The government looks to finalise the new telecom policy by February and would release its draft by December-end for public comments, Union minister Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday.

“We are trying to bring new telecom policy by February. For this the working group has started the process. We expect to finalise draft by end of December and place it for public comments,” the Communications Minister said.

He said the government expected to complete the first phase of Bharat net project to connect 1 lakh village panchayats with high-speed broadband by the end of November. Talking about linking Aadhaar with phone numbers for re-verification, DoT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the government would not disconnect mobile numbers of people who do not have the UIDAI number.

She said the department was waiting for the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar to decide on action to be taken on people who had Aadhaar but don’t want to link it with their mobile number. “We are also working on alternatives for people who are abroad (to help them link their mobile number with Aadhaar),” Sundararajan said.