Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
The transformation of the Indian digital landscape has emerged as a key focus area for the government over the years. Government initiatives such as Digital India have been contributing immensely to making digital infrastructure a core part of the national infrastructure. Further, the recently released National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP), 2018, which underlines the need for a digital ecosystem in the backdrop of new technologies such as 5G and internet of things (IoT), is expected to provide a strong boost to digital economic activity. At a conference on Digital Infrastructure organised by the Broadband India Forum and the Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan, along with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), talked about the need to create a robust digital ecosystem and the role that the government is playing in this regard. Excerpts…
India stands at a very important juncture in terms of the whole digital vision, digital policies and digital infrastructure. The development of the digital segment is what needs to be at the centre of our growth strategy because there is no other sector that has the capability to do as much for productivity, and individual and societal well-being.
Even if we factor in the challenges that exist in the digital space, we know that going forward, almost all economic assets and activity will have a huge digital component to them. Further, all types of infrastructure will have a digital component of some kind or the other. In fact, the concept of infrastructure itself is undergoing some fundamental changes when we think of the digital landscape because, unlike any other form of infrastructure, this is becoming a ubiquitous fabric. It is, in fact, the fabric in which all future economic and social activity is going to be embedded.
Therefore, establishing a robust digital infrastructure is of paramount importance, as it is going to emerge as the key growth driver of the economy without which we will not be able to derive benefits from the digital ecosystem.
In this context, NDCP 2018 envisages digital infrastructure to grow from 6.5 per cent of India’s GDP to 8 per cent. It is estimated that we need $100 billion of investment to achieve this. However, this amount may not be enough compared to the global spend on telecom, which is expected to touch Rs 4 trillion. For instance, China is spending about $188 billion every year on digital communication infrastructure. For 5G alone, China’s budget is expected to be $500 billion. I think these figures are not overestimates because fairly credible estimates suggest that the impact of 5G on global GDP involves a potential doubling of GDP. This is why countries are spending such huge amounts on telecom infrastructure.
“This is a market that is big enough and has enough growth potential for us to be able to attract investments and make those investments profitable.”
If we look at India, an investment of a $100 billion is not much if we consider the sum total of what this infrastructure can do for improving the quality of life of the people. We expect tomorrow’s education, health care, livelihoods, financial services, skills and entertainment to be delivered on the digital highways that we will put in place.
It is estimated that India would need an overall investment of $4 trillion-$5 trillion on infrastructure going forward. Traditionally, about 70 per cent of the infrastructure in the country has come from the public sector, with only 30 per cent coming from the private sector. However, in telecom, the situation is the reverse. The bulk of the investment has come in from the private sector. We must recognise that even the money that is spent through the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund is coming from the private sector. This is why I think it is time for us, decision-makers and stakeholders, to engage in a serious conversation to see how we can enable at least $100 billion of investment in digital communication infrastructure. This is an economic imperative for India. While creating a policy roadmap is one thing, we need to follow it up with several actions on the ground.
The broad strategy that we have spelt out includes a comprehensive restructuring of the USO Fund, which involves utilising its infrastructure much more meaningfully, fruitfully and productively. Further, we intend to form a coalition with the states, telecom service providers, internet service providers (ISPs) and other stakeholders in the industry. Without this form of a digital communication coalition, we will not be able to achieve our targets. The first kick-off workshop in this direction is going to be held soon, where we want to sensitise the states about what is expected of them, how we will start benchmarking the states, and what will be the key parameters of that benchmarking.
ICRIER has already started working with us on these lines. We hope that we will have a fairly good index in place that will be helpful to the states. Further, it will enable us to benchmark ourselves both nationally and at the state level in terms of where we are now and where we need to move to.
I am also happy to state that ISPs have been very progressive. We have already started engaging in discussions on
how we can embark on the “fibre-first” campaign and their response has been extremely positive. We hope that we can put in place a structured mechanism through which we can actually commit to a year-on-year programme in terms of how many mobile towers will get fiberised, how much fiberisation will happen in the states, etc. I think the new policy gives us the framework within which we can begin all this work. Apart from initiative in rise of fibre, the policy spells out what needs to be done in the tower, spectrum, satellite and Wi-Fi spaces.
The indigenous 5G test beds that we are setting up will help us develop a set of products and enlarge the 5G ecosystem. In this regard, we are looking at collaborating with global players because we need their expertise and technological know-how. But we have our own strengths to contribute, which will be a win-win for both. Further, IoT is an area where I believe India has huge capabilities to emerge as a major global player. We also need to work on developing our core information and communication technology competencies in terms of manufacturing as well as intellectual property rights. Further, a lot of work needs to be done in the field of data protection and other aspects of strategic investments in data.
“The department will continue to refine its policies, work on ease-ofdoing business and partner with think tanks because there is a lot of work to be done. We are conscious that DoT has a key role to play in ensuring that we set the tone and provide an enabling environment.”
To work on all this, we need to adopt a collaborative approach, both with domestic stakeholders and external stakeholders because we need best practices to strengthen our domestic capacities.
I do believe that the Indian telecom market is at the initial stage of growth. Although we sometimes say that it is a mature market, we ignore the fact that two-thirds of the growth is yet to be harnessed. Therefore, this is probably the most vibrant and potentially exciting market to be in. At the same time, it is a brutally challenging market and I think we have only seen the beginning of the disruption. I am sure there are still more disruptions to come. But this is a market that is big enough and has enough growth potential for us to be able to attract investments and make those investments profitable.
We, in the department, will continue to refine our policies, work on ease-of-doing business and partner with think tanks because there is a lot of work to be done. We are conscious that DoT has a key role to play in ensuring that we set the tone and provide an enabling environment to make all this happen.
