Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday brainstormed with Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani, Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal and Vodafone Idea MD and CEO Akshaya Moondra to chart a growth road map for the industry.
It was also the first meeting with the telecom chiefs following an increase in mobile tariff in the range of 10-27 per cent.
Scindia told reporters the ministry will work on an actionable plan with defined timelines on issues that have been discussed with the telecom operators.
The minister held meetings with three of the six stakeholders advisory committees (SACs) set by his ministry.
“We have identified a rather deep agenda for these committees. Now the members of these committees and we will be working together,”
Scindia said.
He said there were varied schedules for the first presentation of these committees that will be over the next couple of weeks.
“Then we will be taking on each individual issue, delving into the details and devising an action plan, timelines and actionable items, so that we can take our sector forward,” Scindia said.
He said the six committees are the backbone of the Indian communication sector.
According to sources, the discussions were held for about half an hour in which the minister indicated that customers’ interest should be at the centre.
These committees are designed to facilitate a two-way dialogue with the government on critical matters such as technology promotion, R&D, go-to-market strategies for telecom products and promoting local manufacturing.
The Telecom Service Providers SAC discussed strategies to enhance service delivery and address challenges faced by the operators.
The minister also met representatives of internet service providers and infrastructure committee as well as those of academia and R&D committee.
Bharti Airtel MD Gopal Vittal joined the meeting with the academia and R&D committee.
The focus of Internet Service Providers and Infrastructure Providers panel was on improving broadband penetration.
The committee highlighted the need for policy support to accelerate infrastructure rollout and enhance internet accessibility as it emphasised the deployment of advanced technologies such as fibre optics and 5G.