Telecom industry body COAI on Tuesday lauded the Budget's focus on digital connectivity and announcement related to spectrum auction for 5G rollout but expressed disappointment that its long-standing demands remained unaddressed.
Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said it looks forward to continued and constructive engagement with the government for lowering levies on the telecom sector. "We are glad to see the focus on the enhancement of digital connectivity and the announcement for the required spectrum auction in 2022 for the rollout of 5G mobile services," SP Kochhar, director general of COAI said in a statement.
COAI, however, said it is "a bit disappointed" that the long-standing demands remain unaddressed.
"We look forward to continued and constructive engagement with the government for reduction of levies on the telecom sector," Kochhar added.
He termed the Budget 'pro-growth' with emphasis on providing further impetus to the Digital India initiative.
Kochhar noted that the proposals for encouraging affordable broadband and mobile services through the PLI scheme for 5G equipment, laying optical fibre cables through PPP (public-private partnerships) model under the BharatNet project are all "welcome steps".
