Need rapid expansion of high-speed tech: PM Modi – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Lauding the telecom industry for keeping the country connected during lockdown and corona restrictions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke about the need for rapid expansion of high-speed digital and mobile technology — including 5G — while also making a case for sustainable growth by managing the pile-up of electronic waste responsibly.
Giving the inaugural address at the India Mobile Congress, held digitally due to safety restrictions around coronavirus, Modi said that telecom and digital services have kept India moving despite fears and lockdowns around the virus. “It is due to your innovation and efforts that the world was functional despite the pandemic,” he said, while addressing the captains of the telecom industry, as he pointed out that India had the widest digital spread and strong mobile app ecosystem despite having the lowest tariffs in the world.
“We are embarking on a plan to ensure that over the next three years, every village will have high speed fibre-optic connectivity… We are keen to ensure greater spread of fixed line broadband connectivity and public Wi-Fi hotspots.” He said 5G will play a critical role here. “… this is just the beginning. The future holds great potential with the rapid technology progress. We need to work together to ensure a timely rollout of 5G to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of Indians.”
The Prime Minister also said that while mobile manufacturing is growing in India, the country needs to focus on sustainability. “Due to technological upgradation, we have a culture of replacing handsets and gadgets frequently. Can the industry form a task-force to think of better ways of handling the electronic waste and create a circular economy.”
He said that the country is now building on the success achieved in mobile manufacturing. “India is emerging as one of the most preferred destinations for mobile manufacturing. We have also come up with the production-linked incentive scheme to promote telecom equipment manufacturing in India. Let us work together to make India a global hub for telecom equipment, design, development and manufacturing.”
Telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government has utilised digital channels for empowering the masses and ensuring transparency in welfare benefits. “We sent Rs 13 lakh crore, or close to $175 billion, in the last five-and-a-half years through these digital instruments directly to the bank account of the poor, and we have saved close to Rs 1.78 lakh crore through this,” Prasad said.

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