Industry hails abolition of wireless operating license for ease of doing biz

NEW DELHI: The industry on Tuesday welcomed the government’s progressive approach towards technological advancement of the nation, including the abolition of the wireless operating license (WOL).Union Minister for Communications and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has announced a complete abolition of WOL that further simplifies the licensing processes in telecom.

“By eliminating the need for wireless operating licenses, a simplified regulatory environment is expected to emerge, which would allow for more focus on service enhancement and less on compliance, thus leading to less burden for telecom service providers (TSPs) and further ease of doing business for the sector,” said Lt Gen Dr S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

This would also enable faster rollout of networks and higher mobile broadband penetration for the country, thus helping provide better services to the citizens across the country, while supporting the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the government, he added.

The IT Minister has also unveiled the policy on Spectrum Regulatory Sandbox that holds the potential of advancing India's telecommunications landscape and fostering global collaboration in the field.

“We are enthused by this strategic move by the government, which is in continuation to the outlook for reform-based changes to the policy and regulatory landscape for the Indian telecom sector,” said the COAI.

The IT Minister also pointed out that the implementation of regulatory sandboxes to streamline equipment testing procedures will go a long way in fostering innovation and ease of access.