The government has named Ram Sewak Sharma , currently the IT secretary, as the next telecom regulator, bringing in the popular 'software coding expert' when the sector watchdog needs to take a call on controversial issues such as net neutrality and penalising telcos for call drops.The appointments committee of the Cabinet approved Sharma's selection as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the government said in a notification Monday. The post had been lying vacant since Rahul Khullar retired in mid-May. It wasn't immediately clear when Sharma, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Jharkhand cadre, would take charge of Trai. Khullar had resigned as commerce secretary to take the top job at the regulator.Sharma is due to retire in September this year and observers say he may follow suit. Sharma, who confirmed the appointment, declined to comment further. Having assumed charge as the secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology last April, Sharma also held additional charge as secretary in the Department of Telecommunications for three months before Rakesh Garg was appointed to the post."An excellent choice (as Trai chairman). I've worked closely with him. When I was founding chairman of UID (Unique Identification Authority of India), Sharma was No. 2, he was mission director and later director general," Nandan Nilekani , former Infosys CEO and one of the most respected names in the Indian information technology space, told ET."He did an absolutely amazing job. In fact, the entire credit for getting Aadhaar done goes to him. He's a great leader, honest, decisive and a man of action. Whatever issues and challenges the sector has, he has all the talent and expertise to deal with them," Nilekani added. Issues Sharma will have to deal with include making crucial recommendations on the licensing structure to the telecom department and on 'net neutrality' – a concept that guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on the Internet.The regulator had received immense flak – on social media and from lawmakers alike -over the past few months after it floated a consultation paper that sought views on whether app makers need to be regulated and brought the broader net neutrality issue into public focus. It needs to make its recommendations after having completed consultation process.Trai also has to initiate consultation process on addressing the issue of call drops and recommend pricing of airwaves in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands to the department of telecom. A total of 77 applicants, including a string of highprofile bureaucrats, were in the race for the post. Sharma's high performance as the IT secretary is believed to have tilted the scales in his favour.As the DeitY secretary, Sharma has been spearheading the Modi government's key policies on Digital India. The Digital India project launched by the Prime Minister on July 1 aims to make all government services available to citizens electronically, ensure high-speed Internet connectivity in rural areas across the country and make India a preferred destination for electronics manufacturing and ICT solutions, among others.DeitY is the coordinating agency for the project, which could garner Rs 4.5 lakh crore in investments from companies and create 18 lakh jobs. "He is not only a coder but he knows how to simplify use of technology for easy adoption by masses," a senior bureaucrat close to Sharma told ET. Sharma is often credited with qualities that are seldom expected in bureaucrats — he's punctual and known to report to work at 9 in the morning and he's known to be a quick decision maker and is not averse to risks.Among Delhi's top bureaucrats, Sharma is seen as a maverick of sorts and an exception. Born into a family of well-todo farmers in a backward village close to Faridabad in Haryana in 1955, Sharma had to cycle 10 km every day to school as his village had no primary education facility until a few years ago. Sharma did not grow up wanting to be a government official; he aspired to become a scientist, inspired by renowned physicist Meghnad Saha. He went on to study at Allahabad University, where Professor Saha once taught. Sharma holds two master's degrees - one in mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the other in computer science from the University of California, Riverside.