Telecom reforms push: Trai develops infra policies for critical communication, EU model cited as benchmark

Infrastructure policies and other elements essential for critical communication in the country are being developed rapidly, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman A K Lahoti said on Friday.Speaking at the Broadband India Forum (BIF) event on critical communications, Lahoti said the regulator has given a series of recommendations to the government to strengthen critical communication infrastructure."Policies, spectrum and standards are being rapidly developed to create a resilient, secure and integrated national framework for critical communication in the country," Lahoti said, PTI reported.He recalled that the government announced the National Digital Communication Policy 2018 to enhance the Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) network. In June 2018, Trai had issued its recommendations on next-generation PPDR communication networks to the government.The regulator had suggested a pan-India Integrated Broadband PPDR communication network and a hybrid model of a dedicated BB-PPDR network for areas like metro cities, border districts, disaster-prone areas and sensitive regions such as Jammu & Kashmir and the northeast.

Lahoti also highlighted that, based on references from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the regulator has recommended 10 MHz of paired spectrum in 700 MHz for railway safety through two separate sets of recommendations.At the same event, BIF chairperson Aruna Sundararajan cited global best practices, saying EU member states are leading the way to establish the EU Critical Communication Systems (EUCCS) with an aim to build a pan-European operational mobility capability, enabling public safety responders to act whenever required."In India also, given the vast size and diversity of our subcontinent, we need to have something absolutely similar," she said.Sundararajan further noted that the country has seen the interplay of different technologies during Operation Sindoor. "While technology is key, we need the enabling ecosystem standards, interoperability across agencies, security, encryption to protect sensitive data, redundancy and resilience to withstand disasters and, of course, the increasing number of cyber-attacks," she said.