September 19, 2024: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed that the government implement a streamlined two-page service authorisation for entities seeking to provide telecommunications services under the new Telecommunications Act. This recommendation aims to replace the existing complex agreement process, with detailed terms and conditions outlined in 440 pages of accompanying rules.

These recommendations were made following a consultation that began on July 12 at the request of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which sought TRAI's guidance on structuring the terms, conditions, and fees associated with these authorisations. In its proposal, TRAI has identified three primary categories of service authorisations.

The first includes main service authorisations for essential telecom services such as access, internet, long-distance communication, satellite-based services, and machine-to-machine wide area network (M2M WAN) services. The second category, auxiliary service authorisations, targets services provided to enterprise users rather than the general public. The third category covers captive service authorisations, which are intended for services used exclusively within an organization.

TRAI has emphasized that the details regarding eligibility conditions, the scope of services, and validity periods should be clearly defined in the proposed rules. Additionally, the authority suggested introducing a unified service authorisation at a national level to simplify the provision of primary telecom services.