While Europe pushes the idea of cross-border mergers, telcos will hope regulators follow Asia’s lead in approving in-market consolidation
Overhauling the regulation of telecoms in India
Reforming rights of way will support operators’ network rollouts, although changes to spectrum policy may prove contentious
India to reserve spectrum for private 5G networks
Operators warn this decision will reduce their incentives to invest by undermining a potential future revenue source
India diverges from Europe on spectrum for private 5G networks
The Government has favoured giving mobile operators control, only time will tell if it facilitates the growth of private networks
US finds some digital services taxes are discriminatory
The US Trade Representative has completed investigations into the taxes in India, Italy, and Turkey.
Governments call for changes to end-to-end encryption
The Governments of seven countries seek to obtain greater access to people’s communications for law enforcement purposes.
US Government launches digital tax investigation in nine countries plus the EU
The US Trade Representative will decide whether such taxes are discriminatory towards US companies, in a move similar to the stance it took against France in 2019.
Indian government proposes a new Personal Data Protection Bill
The bill largely resembles the first draft of 2018; however, it makes broader exemptions for public authorities, and foresees the creation of a ‘sandbox’ for innovation purposes
Regulatory uncertainty in India results in Jio charging for some voice calls
As a result of uncertainty around regulatory policy changes for interconnect charges, Jio says it is compelled to recover mobile termination charges for non-Jio mobile voice calls.
Indian regulator opens consultation on regulating OTTs
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has published a consultation paper for a “Regulatory Framework for Over-The-Top (OTT) Communication Services”.
