Centre Winds Up Digital Communications Commission After 37 Years

The government has dissolved the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the apex inter-departmental body at the Department of Telecom that decided policy matters and proposals with significant financial implications, bringing an end to an institution that had functioned for close to four decades.

A notification dated September 19 said the government had decided that the Commission be dissolved, and that it would stand dissolved with effect from the date of publication of the resolution.

The body was set up in 1989 as the Telecom Commission and was renamed the Digital Communications Commission in 2018.

Comprising senior officials drawn from NITI Aayog, the Finance Ministry, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and other departments, the Commission served as a forum for resolving contentious issues. It finalised decisions on most telecom matters before they were placed before the Cabinet for final approval, and handled subjects such as spectrum pricing and recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The Commission held its last meeting on September 3, when it settled the decision on satcom spectrum. Its recommendation on satcom spectrum now requires Cabinet approval.

Elon Musk-led Starlink, Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Industries Ltd's Jio Satellite Communications have received permission to begin satcom services in India. The services, however, cannot be rolled out without spectrum allocation and the second stage of security clearance from security agencies.

The DCC had approved the majority of the suggestions put forward by Trai.