Key Messages:

• Mobile communications can drive growth and significantly enable inclusion and better government.
  
  
• Expanding access requires sharing existing infrastructure as well as building new capacity.
  
  
• Mass adoption of m-commerce requires development of a trusted m-currency mechanism.
  
  
• A mobile platform can multiply access to and impact of e-governance.
  
  
• Premature regulation can stifle innovation and usage.

Recommendations:

1. Enhance infrastructure

• Provide nondiscriminatory access to essential backbone at cost-oriented prices to expand rural coverage.
  
  
• Remove restrictions on active wireless infrastructure sharing.
  
  
• Allocate 700 MHz for wireless broadband; 2008 is a unique time and opportunity for India.
  
  
• Spectrum rules should be open, transparent, predictable, and available in public domain.

2. Promote m-commerce

• Development of “m-currency”
  
  
  • Establish a consortium to develop and support an m-currency payment mechanism for m-commerce that is simple, standardized, branded, and trusted.
    
    
• Creation of hybrid services
  
  
  • Broad acceptance of m-commerce requires a mix of
    
       *    Mobile communications,
       *    Internet, 
       *    Locally relevant applications and content, 
       *    Trusted human interface

3. Expand m-governance

• m-Governance is key to expanding e-government outreach.
  
  
• Mobile users far exceed Internet users.
  
  
• Government services on mobiles can catalyze m-commerce growth.
  
  
• Adapt all e-government applications to run on mobile platform.
  
  
• Example: health and education services on mobile can drive mass adoption.
  

4. Light-touch regulation

• Premature regulation can stifle innovation and usage.
  
  
• Existing law covers most issues such as consumer protection, privacy, fraud, etc.
  
  
• Review existing laws to reflect m-commerce specific issues and update as needed.
  
  
• Create a formal mechanism to provide coordination between regulatory agencies to avoid conflicts.
  
  
• Proactively review rules as technology evolves.
  
  
• Avoid technology-specific regulation.
  
  
• Set targets for mobile data and mobile broadband usage as well as the number of subscribers.
  
  
• Work with industry to build capacity in law enforcement agencies.

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