Editorial: Address telecom concerns

Provision enabling government agencies to take over, manage or suspend telecom services for national security reasons is alarming

The Telecommunications Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, raises more privacy concerns than providing assurances about the growth of the sector. More alarming among them is a provision that enables government agencies to take over, manage or suspend telecom services for national security reasons. The proposed legislation also empowers the government to take steps such as waiving entry fees, licence fees or imposing penalties to maintain competition in the telecom sector. There are also concerns over a clause that speaks about the government’s power to take “temporary possession” of the mobile and internet networks. Suspending the internet may have by now become a routine affair, but taking control of a network, even if temporarily, fundamentally changes the dynamics. Resorting to surveillance and shutdowns as the standard operating procedure is prone to misuse and overreach. The Bill, which seeks to rewrite the 138-year-old Telegraph Act governing the telecom sector, has proposed that the government should be given the right to administratively allocate satellite spectrum. Till now, telecom companies have taken part in auctions and have presented bids to win the spectrum. The government must spell out why it considers the non-auction route to be the way forward. Some would argue that allocating the spectrum for satellite communications by the administrative method could help India align itself with international standards and promote global cooperation.

There is a need to strike a balance between security imperatives and individual privacy. But, the legislation raises fears, surrounding interception requirements for communication over telecom networks, and whether or not it conclusively excludes internet-based communication platforms like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram from its ambit. Besides paving the way for the allocation of satellite spectrum, the Bill proposes biometric authentication of new customers and regulation of encryption standards for internet communication. This could effectively mean the interception of messages. The greater government controls implicit in the Bill warrant clearly defined regulatory checks. There are also fears that the new legislation will result in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) being reduced to just a rubber stamp with its regulatory powers diluted. This could prove to be counterproductive. The draft Bill empowers the Centre to suspend or prohibit the use of telecom equipment from specific countries on the grounds of national security. This is apparently aimed at China. However, a meaningful impact can be made only by nurturing an indigenous ecosystem for cutting-edge technology. The 2023 version of the Bill empowers the government to issue rules to ensure the cybersecurity of telecom networks and services, including collection, analysis and dissemination of traffic data generated, transmitted, received, or stored in telecommunication networks. Since the definition of telecommunication services is so wide, it is unclear if this means that users cannot create anonymous or dummy accounts on online services such as Gmail, Instagram and WhatsApp or what happens to anonymity at large on the internet.