Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed a programme marking the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) via video conferencing. He also released a postal stamp to commemorate the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said the self-made 5G Test Bed that he dedicated to the nation, is an important step toward self-reliance in critical and modern technology in the telecom sector. He congratulated all those associated with this project including the IITs. “The country’s own 5G standard has been made in the form of 5Gi, it is a matter of great pride for the country. It will play a big role in bringing 5G technology to the villages of the country”, he said.
The Prime Minister said that connectivity will determine the pace of progress in 21st century India. Therefore, connectivity has to be modernized at every level. 5G technology, he continued, 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 like agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and logistics. This will also increase convenience and create many employment opportunities. For rapid roll-out of 5G, efforts of both the government and industry are needed, he added.
The Prime Minister cited the telecom sector as a great example of how self-reliance and healthy competition create a multiplier effect in society and the economy. Prime Minister Modi asserted that the 5G launch could offer $450 billion (approximately Rs 3,492 crore) to the Indian economy. In the first phase, the 5G network will first be made available in only 13 major cities in India as the trials were done in these places.
Having set the stage for the launch of 5G, India has already started working for 6G. The Government has announced that the 6G network will come to India by the end of this decade.
The Prime Minister noted that in the last 8 years, new energy was infused into the telecom sector with the ‘Panchamrita’ of Reach, Reform, Regulate, Respond and Revolutionise. He credited TRAI for playing a very important role in this. The Prime Minister said now the country is going beyond thinking in silos and moving ahead with the ‘whole of the government approach’. Today we are expanding the fastest in the world in terms of tele density and internet users in the country, many sectors including telecom have played a role in it, he said.
The Prime Minister said to make the mobile accessible to the poorest of the poor families, emphasis was placed on the manufacturing of mobile phones in the country itself. The result was that the mobile manufacturing units increased from 2 to more than 200.
The Prime Minister noted that today India is connecting every village in the country with optical fibre. He added that before 2014, not even 100 village panchayats in India were provided with optical fibre connectivity. Today we have made broadband connectivity reach about 1.75 lakh gram panchayats. Hundreds of government services are reaching the villages because of this.
The Prime Minister said that the ‘whole of government approach’ is important for the regulators like TRAI also for meeting the present and future challenges. “Today regulation is not limited to the boundaries of just one sector. Technology is interconnecting different sectors. That’s why today everyone is experiencing the need for collaborative regulation. For this it is necessary that all the regulators come together, develop common platforms and find solutions for better coordination”, the Prime Minister said
