According to Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and IT, to encourage uptake of internet services, the industry needs to introduce low-cost devices and provide relevant, multilingual content to users.
Speaking at the Broadband Summit 2012 organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Sibal suggested that a joint working group of industry led by CII and the government should be set up to realise the broadband vision for inclusive growth.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to complete the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) by December 2013.
Other speakers at the summit included R. Chandrashekhar, chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, DoT, J. Satyanarayana, secretary, Department of Electronics and IT, N Ravi Shankar, administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund and Dr Robert Pepper, vice-president, global technology policy, Cisco,
Chandrashekhar called for collaboration at all levels so that an entire ecosystem is created to realise the full potential of broadband.
Satyanarayana was of the view that setting up a seamless, national information infrastructure was critical to ensure that economic benefits flow to the last mile. The decider, he said, would be how many people are being reached or how many people are using the internet.
Pepper informed the audience that India’s IP traffic is expected to grow 11 fold over 2011. Internet users are expected to increase to 502 by 2016.
Shankar added that the industry needs to focus on the transformational aspects of the NOFN. Since the idea is to connect the 250,000 gram panchayats in the country, he suggested a public-private-panchayat partnership for achieving the targets and goals set by the National Telecom Policy 2012.
