Centre Bars Telecom Firms From Sharing Data Outside India

New Delhi, Jul 24: The Centre has prohibited communication infrastructure providers, including cloud-hosted telecom network operators, mobile tower companies and satellite gateway providers, from routing, sharing or storing telecommunication data outside India under a new authorisation framework notified by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

According to the notification issued on July 20, all telecommunication network systems, along with associated data, logs and information, must be stored exclusively within India. Every newly authorised entity has been directed to ensure that no copies of such data are shared or made available outside the country.

The authorisation framework, introduced under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, is part of the government’s move to replace the licensing regime with a lighter regulatory system. It covers infrastructure providers, digital connectivity infrastructure providers, internet exchange point operators, satellite earth station gateways, cloud-hosted telecommunication network providers and national-level mobile number portability providers.

The rules also empower the Centre to inspect telecom infrastructure, audit compliance systems and, where necessary in public interest, conduct inspections without prior notice. The government may also appoint a designated agency to monitor compliance, though it cannot seek disclosure of information that could harm the competitive interests of users or authorised entities.

The framework makes infrastructure providers solely responsible for securing necessary permissions for network rollout, clarifying that delays in obtaining right of way or other approvals will not excuse non-compliance with regulatory obligations.

Industry experts welcomed the move, saying the mandatory data localisation policy will boost domestic data centre demand and strengthen India’s digital infrastructure. However, ITU-APT Foundation of India President Bharat Bhatia said private satellite gateway operators still require clarity on spectrum allocation to ensure a level playing field. (Agencies)