It’s safe to say there have been more eventful weeks in Indian telecommunications.
After the approval of a new national telecoms policy and a cyberattack on the state-supported provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) by the group calling itself Anonymous India, the sector has been under the spotlight.
MTNL’s website was offline for at least six hours yesterday, with the Anonymous India blog posting a screenshot from the “Down for Everyone or Just Me” service to confirm the outage. The site was restored by the time of reporting.
Anonymous India has previously targeted several high-profile Indian institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Department of Telecommunications. While the group continues to emphasise peaceful protest—organising rallies in 12 Indian cities for June 9—it has also claimed responsibility for disruptive online actions to highlight its cause.
The group cites internet censorship as motivation. In a video posted on its site, Anonymous India accuses the Department of Telecommunications of directing internet service providers to block access to viral content-sharing websites, whether the material is legal or illegal. The video says, “We cannot let any censorship happen; this is just like what the high court in the UK has done.”
In an open letter to the government, Anonymous India criticised what it calls the “great Indian firewall,” arguing that blocking entire domains is excessive and unjustified.
Separately, the Indian government has approved a new national telecoms policy that promises significant changes for consumers. The policy proposes abolishing roaming charges and introducing a “one nation one number” scheme so customers can keep their mobile numbers if they move between the country’s telecom circles.
India, with the world’s second-largest mobile subscriber base, is divided into 22 telecom circles. Under the previous system, customers who moved across circles often had to change numbers or pay additional fees for roaming. Eliminating these charges and allowing number portability across circles would simplify service for millions of users.
Observers note the roaming-abolition move aligns India more closely with measures adopted elsewhere, such as recent regulatory changes in the EU aimed at reducing or eliminating roaming fees.
Government officials say the new policy “seeks to provide a predictable and stable policy regime for a period of about ten years.” However, the changes are not immediate: the Telecoms Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are still finalising implementation details.
These developments raise two important questions: should online content remain entirely uncensored even when it infringes copyrights, as Anonymous India claims, and is India’s new telecoms policy—particularly the end of roaming charges and expanded number portability—an overdue step for consumers?