Govt mandates telcos to keep call data, internet usage record for minimum 2 years
Govt mandates telcos to keep call data, internet usage record for minimum 2 years
" The licensee shall maintain all commercial records/call detail record/exchange detail record/IP detail record with record to the communications exchanged on the network. Such records shall be archived for at least two years for scrutiny by the licensor for security reasons...," the DoT circular said.
Department of Telecom (DoT) has extended the duration of archiving call data and internet usage records of subscribers to two years from one year due to security reasons.
The amendments in the licences were issued on December 21 and extended to other forms of telecom permits on December 22.
"The licensee shall maintain all commercial records/call detail record/exchange detail record/IP detail record with record to the communications exchanged on the network. Such records shall be archived for at least two years for scrutiny by the licensor for security reasons...," the DoT circular said.
Telecom companies may destroy the data stored thereafter if there is no direction from the DoT thereafter.
The circular said that the amendment is necessary in "public interest or in the interest of the security of the state or for the proper conduct of the telegraphs".
The amendment mandates telecom companies to maintain internet data records of subscribers including login and logout details of all subscribers for services provided such as internet access, e-mail, internet telephony services like calls made from mobile applications or wifi calling for at least two years.
Earlier the rules mandated the archive call data and internet usage records for at least 1 year.
India's first 5G technology trials for rural broadband began on Thursday at Ajol village in Gujarat with a base transceiver station (BTS) installed 17km away at Unava town in the Gandhinagar diGujarat
A team of representatives from the department of telecom (DoT) and two private mobile service providers visited the village to measure speeds, recording a 105.47 Mbps download speed and a 58.77 Mbps upload speed.
Among the technologies being tested are 360 degrees virtual reality content playback, a virtual-reality connected classroom, 5G immersive gaming and artificial intelligence assisted 360 degrees cameras with real-time video streams, said senior DoT officials.
On Thursday, the Gujarat DoT LSA team comprising DDGs Ajatshatru Somani, Roshan Lal Meena, directors Sumit Mishra and Vikas Dadhich, along with technical teams of Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) and Nokia, visited the 5G testing sites of Gandhinagar.
On November 19, the DoT team checked speeds at the Mahatma Mandir 5G site in Gandhinagar city, which was found to be about 1.5 Gbps, about 100 times faster than 4G.
