The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), a body under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has launched ‘Telecom Technology Development Fund’ (TTDF) scheme. The USOF is DoT’s Rs 580 billion reserve to fund rural and remote digital connectivity.
TTDF aims to fund research and development (R&D) in rural-specific communication technology applications and form synergies among academia, startups, research institutes, and the industry to build and develop the telecom ecosystem.
Additionally, the scheme aims to promote technology ownership and indigenous manufacturing, create a culture of technology co-innovation, reduce imports, foster export opportunities and create intellectual property. Under the scheme, USOF is also strives to develop standards to meet countrywide requirements and create the ecosystem for research, design, prototyping, use cases, pilots, and proof of concept testing, among others. The scheme entails grants to Indian entities to encourage and induct indigenous technologies tailor-made to meet domestic needs.
