The government on Thursday has appointed Atul Kumar Chaudhary, as the new Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the position which was lying vacant after superannuation of V Raghunandan on May 31.

Chaudhary is an Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer of 1989 batch and currently working as Deputy Director General (DDG) in Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He is on “deputation on foreign service terms, initially for a period of two years”, said a government source.

Chaudhary is a graduate from IIT-Rookkee and did his Master Diploma in Public Policy & Administration from IIPA Delhi. He has worked in various capacities in Personnel, HR, Administration, Licencing, Vigilance wing of BSNL and Department of Telecommunications (DoT). He was posted as a DDG at the DoT earlier.

As the new Secretary of the telecom regulator, Chaudhary would have major responsibilities to steer some of the guidelines and policies, along with the stakeholders in terms of quality of services, especially to on pesky (unsolicted calls) and new Broadcasting Policy.