Overview
- The Department of Telecommunications notified authorisation rules on June 24–25, 2026, putting key provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, into effect and replacing the old licence framework.
- DoT designated the Telecom e‑Services Portal as the sole digital gateway and has opened online modules to accept fresh authorisation applications and licence‑migration requests.
- Existing licence holders such as Unified Licence, UASL, ISP, NLD and ILD can apply to migrate, however authorisation does not confer spectrum or gateway permissions which must be obtained separately.
- New obligations require operators to deploy AI and big‑data analytics for fraud prevention, implement anti‑spoofing and lawful‑interception capabilities, and store telecom data and logs within India.
- The rules aim to ease entry with multi‑year authorisations and VNO access but also impose unconditional bank guarantees, separate accounting and cross‑holding limits that raise upfront costs and will hinge on DoT’s detailed conditions and enforcement following almost a year of consultation since September 2025.