By Dinesh C Sharma, March 22, 2014, Deccan Herald
Read full story at: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/393664/telecom-sovereignty.html
Mobile telephony in India is growing at a mind boggling pace. With close to 900 million wireless phones, the mobile revolution has become a cause of celebration in our post-liberalisation growth story, much like the IT revolution. This is a great achievement indeed for a country where one had to wait for several years to get a humble phone connection not very long ago. The wireless revolution, however, is far from over. Teledensity in rural areas is still just 40 per cent and broadband penetration is less than 2 per cent.
High speed broadband connectivity, at affordable rates, in urban areas is also not a reality. The next wave of telecom expansion is now in the offing. Along with plans to raise connectivity in rural areas to 100 per cent by 2020, ambitious plans have been initiated to provide high speed broadband services and latest offerings such as 4G and 5G. A National Fibre Optic Network connecting 250,000 villages by 2020 has been envisaged. Funds worth several thousand crores have been committed by the government.
Interestingly the telecom sector in India is at a position similar to where it was in 1981 in some ways. A crucial decision was made then to move from antiquated crossbar technology to digital switching. In 2014 too, the technology is at the cusp of another change – from voice to converged data, from low-bandwidth to superfast networks. Both then and now the decision relates to leapfrogging to the next best technology. In the 1980s, Indira Gandhi took a bold decision – to develop India’s own digital switching technology – despite resistance from multinational telecom companies as well as pro-import lobbies within her government.
High speed broadband connectivity, at affordable rates, in urban areas is also not a reality. The next wave of telecom expansion is now in the offing. Along with plans to raise connectivity in rural areas to 100 per cent by 2020, ambitious plans have been initiated to provide high speed broadband services and latest offerings such as 4G and 5G. A National Fibre Optic Network connecting 250,000 villages by 2020 has been envisaged. Funds worth several thousand crores have been committed by the government.
Interestingly the telecom sector in India is at a position similar to where it was in 1981 in some ways. A crucial decision was made then to move from antiquated crossbar technology to digital switching. In 2014 too, the technology is at the cusp of another change – from voice to converged data, from low-bandwidth to superfast networks. Both then and now the decision relates to leapfrogging to the next best technology. In the 1980s, Indira Gandhi took a bold decision – to develop India’s own digital switching technology – despite resistance from multinational telecom companies as well as pro-import lobbies within her government.
In 1981, multinational firms were not willing to part with the digital switching technology because it was considered strategic. This forced India to set up the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) to develop its own digital switch, which was tailor-made for Indian conditions. It was much robust than imported ones, could work without air conditioning and handle more calls during busy hours. C-DoT technology not only changed the face of telephony in India but it did so all over the developing world.
Read full story at: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/393664/telecom-sovereignty.html
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