The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to create a new category of internet service provider (ISP) licence for provisioning of cable TV broadband services. The move is aimed at leveraging extensive infrastructure of cable TV service provider to drive broadband penetration in the country.

In this regard, the government is keen to reconsider a proposal of India's broadband policy of 2004, which had suggested use of the country's cable TV infrastructure as a franchisee network of internet service providers for providing broadband services.

The creation of a separate ISP licence is likely to be a part of the new broadband policy that the government is framing. The policy will envisage provision of broadband services as a fundamental right and aims to attract investor interest for development of optic fibre cable (OFC) networks.

The new policy is also likely to advance the target date for broadband penetration to 600 million from 2020 to 2019, while the target of 175 million by 2015 will continue.