New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated to the nation a self-made 5G Test Bed, which will boost key sectors of the economy and mark a step towards self-reliance in the telecom sector, according to an official release.
“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”, the Prime Minister said while addressing a programme to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) via video conferencing. Noting that connectivity will determine the pace of progress in 21st century India, the Prime Minister further said, “connectivity has to be modernized at every level. The 5G technology 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,” the PM added. The Prime Minister cited the telecom sector as a great example of how self-reliance and healthy competition have a multiplier effect in society and on the economy.
Taking a dig at the previous UPA regime, the PM said, “Coming out of the despair, frustration, corruption and policy paralysis of the 2G era, the country has moved rapidly from 3G to 4G and now 5G and 6G.” He also noted that in the “last 8 years, new energy has been infused into the telecom sector with the ‘Panchamrita’ of Reach, Reform, Regulate, Respond and Revolutionise.”
The PM credited the TRAI for playing a very important role in the telecom sector and said 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.
In order to make the mobile phones accessible to the poorest of the poor, emphasis has been placed on manufacturing in the country itself, the PM noted, adding that “The result was that the mobile manufacturing units increased from 2 to more than 200.” Noting that India is connecting every village in the country with optical fibre, the PM recalled 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 PM said. The ‘whole of government approach’ is important for regulators like TRAI as well as for meeting the present and future challenges, the PM pointed out.
“Today regulation is not limited to the boundaries of just one sector. Technology is inter-connecting 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. The PM congratulated all those associated with this project, including the IITs, and also released a postal stamp to commemorate the occasion in the presence of Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Devusinh Chauhan and L. Murugan besides leaders of telecom and broadcasting sectors.
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