(BABUS IN GOVT.JUST ENJOY DELAYING THE THINGS AND GOVT TALKS OF FAST APPROVALS.RED TAPISM AND BUREAUCRACY IS THE BIGGEST HURDLE IN THE GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY AS OUR MINISTER/S FAIL TO GRAB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COUNTRY AS THEIR SELF INTEREST IS ABOVE THE COUNTRY.)
NEW DELHI: Non-clearance of hundreds of applications from telecom and electronic companies seeking Equipment Type Approval (ETA) is leading to the market shortage of products used in the unlicensed spectrum bands in the wake of growing remote work culture.
"The DoT’s Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) wing is yet to clear hundreds of pending applications for equipment approvals, including fresh applications amounting to millions of equipment being stuck from being distributed to the Indian market," The Mobile Association president Bhawna Kumari told ETTelecom.
The industry estimates suggest that as much as 500 applications were pending with the department's wireless wing that includes more than 60% from IT and electronic companies while the remaining ones were from telecom equipment makers.
"The surging demand of products used in unlicensed spectrum in current times, has taken the industry by surprise, and on the other hand, the delays to get the licenses for devices have skyrocketed," Kumari added.
Query to DoT didn't elicit any response.
In 2018, the department asked the wireless planning division to administer an online ETA process for equipment and products used in delicensed frequency bands.
The department's statutory body that offers licensing and regulation, and radiofrequency allocation in coordination with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), typically takes a week's time to approve applications digitally.
With the rapid rise in work-from-home, remote learning, and telemedicine, following the nationwide shutdown, the demand for Wi-Fi-enabled devices,
routers, modems, and laptops have surged dramatically with several consignments waiting for necessary approvals.
The existing delays in necessary permission faced by several companies are leading to a shortage of connected equipment availability in the market.
The industry, according to the Delhi-based group, is seriously concerned about the licensing decisions on the number of pending applications while it is bracing much higher than their normal ability to tackle those demands.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) in one of the many letters it sent to the telecom department since February, has also said, "the delays in approvals result in avoidable payments of demurrage charges by companies which had adapted to the online process of timely approvals."
In a letter dated April 23, the telco body said that approvals should be done in a timely manner since the usage of digital equipment has exponentially surged due to prohibitory orders and shutdowns in the wake of the novel Coronavirus outbreak.
COAI represents incumbent carriers - Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as well as equipment makers such as Cisco, Ciena, Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Juniper, and ZTE.
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