Page 124 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

India’s DoT Outlines New Policy to Boost Telecoms Coverage

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has set up including increasing the fiberisation of telecom towers from
ambitious targets to achieve 100% population coverage with 4G the current 46% to 80%, ensuring 100% fiberisation of all Gram
and 90% coverage with 5G, according to a draft of the country’s Panchayats – local self government bodies at village level – under
National Telecom Policy 2025, now being circulated for public BharatNet, a project aimed at providing broadband connectivity
consultation. Comments, suggestions, and feedback from to Gram Panchayats, with uptime exceeding 98%. The aim is also
stakeholders and the general public are being requested within 21 to enable fibre connectivity to all government institutions at the
days from 23 July. According to the Indian Express news service, village level and beyond. Schemes are being proposed to expand
the policy outlines ten strategic objectives to be achieved by 2030, mobile networks in underserved rural, remote and urban areas, as
including a plan to double the export of telecom products and are incentive programmes aiming to boost the adoption of fixed-
services and to double the number of telecommunications startups line broadband. Another aim is to integrate telecom infrastructure
in the country. The policy strongly emphasises rural connectivity into the disaster recovery protocols of the country’s National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Quality of service (QoS)
standards are to be harmonised with international benchmarks for
both indoor and outdoor environments; there will also be greater
transparency regarding telecom coverage and signal strength.
The most ambitious part of the policy, perhaps, may be a vision to
establish India as one of the top ten global hubs for innovation and
research in emerging technologies, targeting a 10% global share
in 6G-related intellectual property rights, massive boosts to both
domestic telecom manufacturing output and import substitution of
telecom products, and the establishment of a dedicated Telecom
Manufacturing Zone (TMZ) in the country.

5G Auction Delay in Pakistan Tied to PTCL–Telenor Deal Stalemate

Pakistan’s long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is facing delays
due to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL),
which is allegedly withholding key documents related to its
proposed acquisition of Telenor Pakistan, according to the
country’s Minister for IT and Telecommunications.A report by
local newapaper Dawn stated that PTCL has yet to submit critical
paperwork to the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP),
stalling the regulatory process needed to move forward with the
auction. Sources speaking to the publication accused PTCL of
sowing confusion and dragging its feet, preventing the CCP from
conducting its evaluation of the deal. Telenor, which announced
plans to sell its Pakistani operations and exit the market by mid-
2025, has not yet received the regulatory green light, missing its
own projected timeline. Minister of IT and Telecommunication
Shaza Fatima Khawaja confirmed that the primary cause of the 5G
auction delay is the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of proposed merger. Neither the IT Ministry nor the government can
both Ufone (a PTCL subsidiary) and Telenor Pakistan. “The CCP influence the Commission in the performance of its regulatory
is an independent body, and we are awaiting its decision on the functions,” Khawaja told Dawn.

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