New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the country is making significant progress in the telecom sector, noting that 5G and 6G will assist improve growth in all sectors after the country “lost a decade of policy paralysis and corruption of the 2G.”
PM Modi spoke at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) silver jubilee celebrations, saying, “Out of the despair, frustration, corruption, and policy stagnation of the 2G era, the country has achieved tremendous progress from 3G to 4G, and now 5G and 6G. Our telecom industry is an excellent illustration of how self-sufficiency and good competition have a multiplier effect in society and the economy.”
PM Modi unveiled the 5G Test Bed, which was designed as a multi-institute collaboration effort led by IIT Madras.
“5G Test Bed is an important step towards the country’s self-reliance on critical and modern technology in the telecom sector. 5G technology is also going to bring positive changes in the governance of the country, ease of living and ease of doing business. This will boost growth in every sector including agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and logistics. This will also create many employment opportunities,” said the Prime Minister.
He said connectivity will determine the pace of progress of the country in 21st century. He stressed on the modernization of connectivity at every level.
PM Modi further said that every village in the country today is being connected with optical fiber.
“Before 2014, even 100-gram panchayats in India were not connected to optical fiber connectivity. Today broadband connectivity has reached about 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. To make mobile accessible to the poorest of the poor families, we have emphasized on manufacturing of mobile phones in the country itself. The result was that the mobile manufacturing units increased from 2 to over 200,” he said.
India, according to Prime Minister Modi, is the world’s fastest growing country in terms of teledensity and internet users.
“Now the country is marching ahead with the ‘whole of the government’ approach by moving beyond the thinking of silos. In the last 8 years, we have infused new energy in the telecom sector with the Panchamrita of Reach, Reform, Regulate, Respond and Revolutionize. TRAI has played a very important role in it.”
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Test Bed project cost more than Rs 220 crore to create. The Test Bed would create a supporting ecosystem for Indian industry and entrepreneurs, allowing them to validate their 5G and next-generation technologies products, prototypes, solutions, and algorithms.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, formed TRAI in 1997.
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