Prasad promises to take broadband to masses; sees India as export hub for electronics

IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Monday vowed to take broadband to the doorsteps of the common man via a policy push and entrepreneurship ecosystem and said the government will also work proactively to make India an export hub for electronic products. Outlining an ambitious vision for Digital India 2.0, the minister exhorted Indian IT companies and its apex software body Nasscom to participate in the creation of 'Digital Villages' in the country and supplement the government's efforts in the digital literacy movement.

"One of the priority areas and I am working on it...Broadband available at your doorsteps...in this, we want to involve entrepreneurs. Just like a mobile SIM card is available in 'paan' shops, can we do something similar for broadband...," Prasad told reporters here. He said the availability of broadband and mobiles is an essential component of Digital India, which is feeding the digital appetite of the country.

"Cable operators brought television to the doors of the people, the PCO and Common Service Centre (CSC) became big movements. So did Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)...Can we come up with an architecture backed by entrepreneurship and a good policy where broadband is available for all," he said. India will leverage its existing strength in electronics manufacturing and strong talent pool to position itself as an export hub for electronics products, Prasad said.

"Electronics manufacturing is a part of Digital India. My ministry will work to make India a big export hub for electronics products. We have the human resource and qualified personnel in this area," Prasad said adding that policy tweaks in this regard will be made soon. The minister further said efforts should be made to see how 5G and new technologies like Artificial Intelligence can be leveraged under Digital India.

The government is working on creating one lakh Digital Villages, he said and urged the Nasscom and IT industry to participate in the programme. As per telecom regulator TRAI's latest data, the number of broadband subscribers (that is, availing over 512 Kbps downloads) rose to 571.9 million at the end of April 2019, from 563.3 million at the end of March 2019, a monthly growth rate of 1.53 per cent.

The top five service providers constituted 98.6 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers as on April 2019. These included Reliance Jio Infocomm (314.81 million), Bharti Airtel (115.71 million), Vodafone Idea (109.66 million), state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (22.29 million) and Tata Tele Group (1.94 million). It is pertinent to mention here that the National Digital Communications Policy mentions 'Broadband for All' as one of the strategic objectives to be accomplished by 2022.

The policy document talks about the creation of a robust digital communications infrastructure "to promote broadband for all as a tool for socio-economic development while ensuring service quality and environmental sustainability".