According to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Telecommunications and IT, one of the key focus areas before him is increasing investor confidence by ensuring that the decision-making is fair and based on the twin objective of growth and consumer satisfaction.

Further, improving quality of services and establishing broadband highways across the country will be the other two priorities for the minister. In addition, improving mobile access in rural areas, Northeast, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar and naxal-affected areas is going to be another focus area for the Ministry of Telecommunications and IT.

For Prasad, with the introduction of 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the telecom industry, the next step is to fasttrack the process of attracting higher investments in the sector by establishing a transparent regime.

Given that the previous government’s tenure was marked by an uncertain regulatory regime, the new minister is in favour of introducing industry friendly policies and softer approach towards several regulatory issues. However, he believes that in order to usher in growth in the telecom sector, it is essential to ensure that regulations formulated by the government are strictly followed.