The Indian Government has approved a new Telecoms Policy that does away with roaming within across the country and allows citizens to retain their phone number regardless of where they are in the country, without having to pay extra charges, contrary to current legislation.

Despite already having closed their services in India, announcing that they will cease doing business in the country and notifying their subscribers to move to a different network, operators S Tel and Etisalat have been told by India’s telecoms regulator that they must continue offering services until the license cancellation date. Loop Telecom has also announced that it will be exiting the market but must continue offering services until June 2, 2012.

India’s Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRAI) is proposing new rules to compel telecoms service providers to source the bulk of their equipment locally. Under the proposed rules, products that are manufactured locally – whether by Indian or foreign-owned companies – should be given preference in both public and private sector purchase decisions.