 "Anil Kumar Lahoti")
Anil Kumar Lahoti, the new chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), is known for his focus on efficiency. It is a strength that may help sort a long list of issues pending before the regulator, ranging from satellite spectrum, direct to mobile technology (D2M), and a national broadcasting policy, sources said.
An order from the government’s department of personnel and training late on Monday announced Lahoti's appointment as Trai chief for three years. Lahoti served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Railway board for eight months till August 31 2024 and was earlier Member (Infrastructure).
Lahoti belongs to the 1984 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers and has worked in various roles in Central, Northern, North Central, Western and West Central Railways in his more than 36 years of government career. He is known for the planning and construction of the Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi and redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway station.
Lahoti trumped three other contenders to become the new Trai chief: Ajay Prakash Sawhney, electronics and information technology secretary, A K Tiwari, former member, technology, at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and former power secretary Sanjiv Sahai were in the race.
‘Business Standard’ reported earlier this month that Lahoti was the frontrunner and would be named by end-January. He would be a rare non-IAS officer to be appointed as Trai chief, which is the autonomous regulator for telecom and broadcasting sectors.
P D Vaghela, the last Trai chairperson, retired on September 30 and the government took three months to fill the position. Lahoti's appointment comes after two rounds of interviews.
Lahoti has worked as general manager of Central Railway and then Western Railway. His stints are credited with achieving the highest ever freight and parcel traffic in terms of tonnage carried and revenue earned, said a Railway Ministry statement when he took charge as Rail Board CEO.
He had also been instrumental in running Kissan Rail, a service. to move perishables including fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fishery and dairy products.
He improved Railway revenue in non-fare opportunities by sale of scrap and extensive ticket checking drives. He steered resolving the vexed issue of expansion of air conditioned sub-urban services in Mumbai. During his tenure as general manager, Central Railway recorded a quantum jump in execution and commissioning of infrastructure projects and commissioned the long awaited 5th & 6th line between Diva and Thane in Mumbai.
As Divisional Railway Manager, Lucknow, Northern Railway, he took several initiatives to improve freight movement on the Lucknow-Varanasi-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction route as an alternative to the congested Ghaziabad-Prayagraj-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction route. His stint also saw a substantial improvement in passenger amenities and cleanliness standards at stations on Lucknow division.
Challenges ahead
In his new position, Lahoti may need to first tackle the deadlock over satellite spectrum. Trai needs to recommend a pricing mechanism and set a reserve price for airwaves, after which Reliance Jio and Airtel can each begin their satellite spectrum services in the country. American billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper are also in the fray to provide the services.
Trai has to make recommendations on a long list of issues ranging from a national broadcasting policy, artificial intelligence, digital transformation through 5G, to quality of service norms and unused spectrum bands. Consultation papers on these and other issues are pending with Trai, after their last dates for receiving industry comments were extended multiple times. The papers are key precursors to any new policy or technology change in the telecom space.
An area where Trai needs to float a consultation paper is the proposed D2M technology, which will allow multimedia content to be transmitted to smartphones without requiring an active internet connection. Telecom operators remain opposed to the idea, having asked the government for a major rethink to establish a level playing field, and ensure it does not become a source of regulatory arbitrage.
However, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Electronics and Information Technology Ministry, and Department of Science and Technology favour D2M and pilot projects for it will begin in 19 cities. Some ministries are keen to bring in the technology as early as by later this year.
