Government dissolves 37-year-old DCC
The Indian government has decided to dissolve the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), a decision marked by a notification dated September 19. Established in 1989 and renamed in 2018, the DCC had served as the apex decision-making body for over three decades. Comprising senior officials from various government departments, the commission played a crucial role in resolving intricate telecom policy issues and setting most decisions before they reached the Cabinet for approval.
The DCC was responsible for spectrum pricing and recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Its most recent action was finalising the decision on satellite communication (satcom) spectrum during its last meeting on September 3. However, the commission's decision on satcom spectrum now awaits approval from the Cabinet.
Companies like SpaceX's Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb backed by the Bharti Group, and Reliance Industries Ltd's Jio Satellite Communications have been granted permission to commence satcom services in India. Nevertheless, they must secure spectrum allocation and obtain second-stage security clearance from security agencies before implementation can begin.
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