NEW DELHI — In a key regulatory appointment, the Government of India has named veteran telecom administrator Harinder Kumar as the new Secretary of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Kumar, a senior officer of the Indian Telecom Service (ITS), has been appointed for a fixed tenure of two years. The official notification, issued on June 10, 2026, confirms that his services are being placed with the telecom regulator on a deputation basis under standard foreign service terms.
Transitioning from the Helm of BSNL’s Largest Circle
Kumar takes charge at TRAI with deep operational and engineering experience across India’s public sector telecom machinery:
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Current Mandate: Prior to this elevation, Kumar served as the Chief General Manager (CGM) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) Maharashtra circle—one of the state-run telco’s largest, most vital, and high-revenue operational jurisdictions.
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The ITS Edge: As an ITS officer, his multi-decade career spans field engineering, large-scale network infrastructure deployment, optical fiber rollouts, and circle-level corporate management, providing him with ground-level insights into telecom logistics and pricing dynamics.
Steering India’s Next-Gen Digital Regulation
Kumar’s transition to the regulatory secretariat comes at a defining juncture for India’s digital economy, as TRAI navigates intense policy deliberations over spectrum management and corporate market consolidation.
As Secretary, Kumar will anchor TRAI’s executive team in formulating guidelines across several high-stakes domains:
The Regulatory Agenda: Kumar will supervise recommendations on 5G-Advanced and early 6G spectrum roadmaps, digital inclusion mandates for rural areas, Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks to curb call drops, and net neutrality frameworks governing Over-The-Top (OTT) communication platforms.
Kumar succeeds the outgoing secretariat leadership and will work in close coordination with the TRAI Board to bridge corporate telecom interests, public sector initiatives, and consumer data safety mandates.
