Posted On: 20 JUN 2023 4:55 PM by PIB Delhi
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today issued the recommendations on ‘Licensing Framework and Regulatory Mechanism for Submarine Cable Landing in India’.
Submarine cables are vital digital communication infrastructure of today’s fast-paced global economy and are the lifelines of any country’s communication grid, empowering its business and economic operations. Today, the web of these cables traverses the maritime zones of several countries, connecting people and businesses across the globe.
The TRAI received a reference letter dated August 12, 2022, from the Department of Telecom (DoT) seeking recommendations on licensing framework and regulatory mechanism for submarine cables landing in India within the existing UL-ILD/standalone ILD license. The DoT has raised concern that recently some Indian ILDOs not having any stake in submarine cable systems are seeking clearance on behalf of the owners of submarine cable for laying/maintaining such cables in India and are also applying for setting up of Cable Landing Stations (CLS) for such submarine cables. Apart from the issue flagged by DoT, the Authority had suo-moto identified certain other issues related to submarine cables such as (i) the Need for Indian Flagged vessel for submarine cable operation and maintenance (ii) Enabling provisions for the domestic submarine cable between two or more cities on the coastline of India (iii) Stub-cables – a new concept of placing pre-laid “dark fiber” from the CLS through Beach Manhole (BMH) into the territorial waters for upcoming new cables, and (iv) Clarity on terrestrial connectivity between different Cable Landing Stations.
Accordingly, TRAI issued a Consultation Paper on ‘Licensing Framework and Regulatory Mechanism for Submarine Cable Landing in India’ on December 23, 2023. The comments and counter-comments received from various stakeholders are available on the TRAI website. In this regard, an Open House Discussion (OHD) was also held on April 19, 2022, through video conference.
Based on the comments/inputs received from the stakeholders during the consultation process, a discussion held during OHD, and further analysis of the issues, the Authority has finalized Recommendations on ‘Licensing Framework and Regulatory Mechanism for Submarine Cable Landing in India’.
