Category: Software

NEW DELHI: With the launch of the GSAT-8 satellite last year, 24 Ku-band transponders had become available for communication and broadcasting services and could take up to 1000 TV channels, said Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.

Speaking at a function where the NDTV Good Times Gadget Guru awards were presented, Sibal said the second series of Aakash tablet, Aakash 2, will be rolled out next month and will be priced at a mere Rs 2,276.

He said the Government had been encouraged at the response to the first series and the second series was far superior. He said the aim would be to make this available to anyone and not just students and universities.

Meanwhile, he announced that a total of 419 universities all over the country were being linked by a National Knowledge Network and this would help overcome the shortage of trained teachers as a student from one university could take the help of a professor in another university.

He said the National Fibre Optic network was expected to be ready in the next 18 months to two years.

Actor-filmmakers Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, and Sajid Khan, and actors Jacqueline Fernandes and Asin gave away awards at the event conducted by NDTV CEO Vikram Chandra with Tech Guru Rajiv Makhni along with former Miss India Gul Panag.

Actor Anoushka Sharma was awarded for the best celebrity endorsement of the year for Reliance Communications.

The colourful event at the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon included performances from ‘Jhumroo’, a show being prepared at the venue to pay tributes to singer-actor-composer Kishore Kumar on his 25th Death anniversary.

Awards were given away in 18 categories for the most innovative and clutter breaking gadgets and gizmos in 2011.

Enclosed below is the list of winners:

Best Audio Product of the Year	NAD VISO 1 iPod Dock
Best Audio and Video Innovation of the Year	Control 4 Home theatre
Best Portable Audio Product of the Year	Bose Sound Link Wireless Mobile Speaker
Best Computer Peripherals of the Year	Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
Best Computing Product of the Year	Macbook Air 11
Best Consumer Electronics of the Year	Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker
Best Gadget Eye Candy of the Year	Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
Best Budget Phone of the Year	Samsung Galaxy Y
Best Smartphone of the Year	Apple iPhone 4S
Best Imaging Product of the Year	Canon PowerShot S100
Best TV display of the Year	LG Electronics Cinema 3D TV 55LW6500
Portable Computing Product of the Year	Apple iPad 2
Best Celebrity Endorsement of the Year	Reliance Communications Ltd. – Anushka Sharma
Best App of the Year	Sygic/ Mapmy India Aura
Best Gaming Product of the Year	Sony Ericsson XperiaPlay
Best Technology/Innovation of the Year	Samsung Galaxy Note
NDTV Gadget of the Year (Viewer’s choice)	Samsung Galaxy Note
NDTV Gadget of the Year (Jury choice)	Samsung Galaxy Note

The jury for the awards featured award winning actor Gul Panag, India‘s best known tech expert – Atul Chitnis, Technology consultant – Kishore Bharagava, Nishanth Padiar – Editor, Stuff Magazine, Ashish Bhatia – Independent technology writer and columnist, Prasanto Kumar Roy – President and Chief Editor of Cyber Media‘s ICT Group besides Vikram Chandra & Rajiv Makhni.

A special audio jury included KJ Singh – National Award Winner for Sound Design in Omkara and Milinid Raorane – Electro-Acoustic Expert.

Gadgets launched between 1 February 2011 and 15 January 2012 were nominated for the awards; the winners were shortlisted based on the test results and an extensive jury meet process and rating system verified by Ernst & Young.
In its second edition, the event comprised a Conclave featuring master class sessions by Dolby, Sony and Canon and an Experience Zone where some of the biggest Tech brands showcased their latest products.

NEW DELHI: With less than four months to go before the first phase of digitisation of cable networks in the four metros comes into effect, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has stepped up efforts to create awareness and ensure smooth switchover to digital set-top boxes.

Rajiv Takru, additional secretary in the Ministry, and joint secretary Supriya Sahu today met Delhi Government chief secretary PK Tripathi to work out ways to jointly promote digitisation in the national capital region.

Addressing media later, Takru said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is expected to announce its tariff for digital cable by the end of the current month. He said the tariff will indicate the upper limit of the charge per channel, and a cable operator or MSO could even offer lower rates if he so wished. However, the entertainment duty on these will be as set by the states – which is 20 per cent in the case of Delhi.

Takru said in reply to a question that the Ministry was actively consideration giving incentives such as tax rebates on the STBs.

Takru denied any shortage of digital STBs and said there was ample supply for the four metros. He said the fear and perception of shortage of STBs was misplaced. He said there were one million for the NCR region out of a total of 2.8 million STBs available at present. He said the Task Force on digitisation set up by the Ministry last year was meeting every fortnight to review the situation.

The first phase covering the four metros will switch off analogue by 30 June this year, while cities with a population of one million will be covered by 31 March 2013. All urban areas would be covered by 30 September 2014, and the entire country will be covered by 31 December 2014.

The Ministry has created a toll free number, 1800 180 4343, available presently on weekdays to answer any questions related to digitisation. In addition, the Ministry has for the first time resorted to use of social media and created an account on Facebook, www.facebook.com / DigitalIndiaMIB not only to disseminate information regarding the issues involved, but also facilitate a two-way flow of information between the Ministry and key stakeholders.

Apart from better picture quality and the possibility of a cable operators being able to show as many channels as the consumer was willing to pay for, Takru said that the new rules contain a must-provide facility under which a cable operator has to provide the channel asked for by a consumer.

He said the Digital Addressable System (DAS) will also ensure transparency with regard to television rating points. He said it was unfortunate that the TRP ratings were dependent on TAM which only covered 8,000 TV homes. As a result, 70 per cent of the TV revenue came from advertisements and only 30 per cent came from subscriptions, as compared to 65 per cent contributed by subscribers and 35 per cent coming from advertisers in other countries.

He said by and large, the STBs would be sourced from the multi-system operators (MSOs) and not cable operators, and therefore the STBs will conform to the technology being used by the concerned MSO. He said there was no inter-portability at present, but the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act 2011 passed in the winter session had made it clear that any consumer wanting to change his operator could do so by merely returning the STB and taking another STB from the new operator.

Similarly, he said that pricing of the STBs was not a major issue as most MSOs were offering very attractive terms under which a consumer could purchase or even hire a digital STB.

Tripathi said that the aim of the meeting with Ministry officials had been to understand the implications of digitisation and the role the Delhi Government will have to play in this regard. He said it was clear that the cable industry will not be hit in any way by digitisation, contrary to fears expressed by some organisations.

Answering a question, he said that ‘right of way’ as listed in the Act will mean the Delhi Government providing the facility of electricity poles being used for the cable wires, instead of loosely hanging them around over trees and buildings.

Meanwhile, the Facebook account will facilitate exchange of information and clarifications on a wider canvass of public participation, covering a whole gamut of public concerns. It carries answers to some of the frequently asked questions and provides links to other connected organisations. The “Wall” on the account provides an interactive platform and will be a source of useful information for individuals as well as stakeholders like the MSOs and cable operators.

The digital cable TV network has enhanced capability to carry additional innovative services like triple play with broadband, value added service and interactive services.

MUMBAI: Global satellite operator Eutelsat and Es‘hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, have selected Arianespace to launch their Eutelsat 25B[1] / Es‘hail 1 satellite in the second quarter of 2013 on board an Ariane 5 launcher.

The contract signed with Arianespace to deliver Eutelsat 25B / Es‘hail 1 into orbit marks a further step forward in Eutelsat and Es‘hailSat‘s joint programme to operate a high-performance satellite at 25.5° East, a longstanding orbital position serving expanding markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

The new satellite will provide superior coverage and power to follow on from Eutelsat‘s Eutelsat 25A satellite. In addition to securing Ku-band continuity for Eutelsat and Ku-band resources for Es‘hailSat, it will initiate a Ka-band capability to open business opportunities for both parties.

The satellite, weighing over six tonnes, is under construction by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L).

Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen said, “Together with our partner, Es‘hailSat, we are delighted to entrust the launch of our satellite to Arianespace that has delivered Eutelsat with reliability, flexibility and on-time performance over almost 30 years. This mission for 2013 is a new marker in a solid and longstanding relationship, enabling Eutelsat to pursue our objective to renew and expand the resources and quality of service we provide our customers.”

Es‘hailSat CEO Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari said, “We are delighted that, together with Eutelsat, we have been able to select Arianespace to launch our first satellite. Es‘hail 1 is just the start of our mission to provide high quality, independent satellite services to meet Qatar‘s national stakeholder‘s interests and serve customers throughout the Middle East and North Africa”.

MUMBAI: Panasonic US televisions has announced the availability of the company‘s initial wave of 2012 Smart Viera Plasma, LED and LCD HDTVs, defining the core of a new Internet connected lifestyle.

Panasonic models in the ST50, UT50, and XT50 Plasma series and the E50, ET5, E5 and X5 LED series will be available this month.

The LED models introduce two new screen sizes – a 47-inch class (47 inches measured diagonally) that will be available this month, with 55-inch class (54.6 inches measured diagonally) models to follow in April and May. In addition to the two new screen sizes, Panasonic has increased its LED model line-up from seven models in 2011 to 16 in 2012.

The 2012 models expand Panasonic‘s 3D lineup and enhance its commitment to its Internet platform, Viera Connect. With this in mind, new for 2012 is a cloud-based architecture that opens the Viera Connect IPTV platform to an infinite number of apps.

In addition, Panasonic says that it continues its commitment to the environment by improving the panel luminance efficiency of the Viera Plasmas, as evidenced in the 100,000 hour life span of the panels, as well as producing mercury-and lead-free panels. Enhanced power efficiency has been addressed with, among other technology advances, new and improved phosphor mixtures and more efficient electronics. The new advanced LED IPS (In Plane Switching) panels reduce on-mode power consumption by about 25 per cent compared with last year‘s comparable models.

Panasonic is dedicated to bringing new picture-improving technologies to HDTVs and the 2012 Plasma lineup also builds upon that philosophy. The 2012 Smart Viera Plasma HDTVs produce black levels. The Viera HDTVs also feature super fast response time, intuitive and therefore easy to operate controls, internet apps, and a design incorporating Panasonic‘s Glass and Metal concept.

Panasonic Consumer Marketing Company of North America VP merchandising Henry Hauser said, “Our enhanced and very strong 2012 model lineup builds on Panasonic‘s priority to be the highest quality entertainment company, providing the consumer with many options and our new lineup does just that. Panasonic is extremely proud that for the last three years our Plasma HDTVs have been nominated as CES Best in Show and our LED and LCD lineup is stronger than ever with the addition of two larger screen sizes, the 47-inch and the 55-inch.”

Select Smart Viera Plasma models employ NeoPlasma Black 2500 to provide a crisp image with 2500 FFD (Focussed Field Drive) technology even when the content shows very fast motion, and to control the light, which enables viewers to see subtle details in dark scenes, with the new 24,576-steps super fine gradation. The 2012 panel further reduces reflections and creates sharper pictures with higher contrast in brighter environments. In addition, a new panel structure with improved filter and pre-discharge control technology contributes to an increased native contrast level. Additionally, all the 3D models include DLNA connections for easy link-up to other DLNA equipped products.

MUMBAI: France Télécom-Orange and Publicis Groupe will partner with Iris Capital Management (Iris) to create one of
Europe‘s premier venture capital investors in the digital economy. Orange and Publicis Groupe will together contribute 150 million euros to the initiative.

Added to Iris‘ pre-existing funding commitments from investors — including the European Investment Fund and French public investor CDC Entreprises (Groupe Caisse des Dépôts) — this will result in a total investment capacity in excess of 300 million euros.

Three funds will be created, to be organised as follows:

OP Ventures Growth will target established companies in France and Europe, providing up to 15 million euros per project.

OP Ventures Global will invest in start-ups outside Europe, also with funds of up to 15 million euros per project.
OP Ventures Early Stage will provide seed-capital and early-stage investment of up to three million euros to young companies in France and Europe.

Both OP Ventures Growth and OP Ventures Global will be immediately operational, while the third fund, OP Ventures Early Stage, will open for business in the course of the second quarter of 2012. All three funds will be dedicated exclusively to companies involved in creating value within the digital economy.

In practical terms, Orange and Publicis Groupe will each acquire a minority 24.5 per cent interest in Paris-based Iris. Iris‘ management will retain a controlling 51 per cent interest and the company will continue to be run by Pierre de Fouquet and Antoine Garrigues. The Supervisory Board will be chaired by Lévy with France Télécom-Orange deputy CEO Gervais Pellissier as Deputy Chairman. All investment and divestment decisions will be made by an independent Investment Committee.

Publicis Groupe chairman, CEO Maurice Lévy said, “We‘ve been keen to set up OP Ventures on strong foundations, and we‘ve decided to partner with Iris because of the depth of their knowledge and their successful track record. There are a lot of smart engineers and entrepreneurs in France and in Europe who are involved in projects that are innovative and exciting, and our plan is to get funds flowing to their businesses as fast as possible so they can flourish.”

The tie-in with Iris brings the project, which Orange and Publicis Groupe first outlined in November 2011, an immediately operational team of investment professionals. Iris has invested some 870 million euros in more than 200 companies since its launch in 1986. Recent investments include French company Mediastay, an online games monetization platform; Berlin-based search-engine optimization company Searchmetrics; and Clear2Pay, a Belgian company specialized in payment technology solutions.

European Investment Fund (EIF) CEO Richard Pelly said, “This initiative illustrates a sweeping change in venture capital across Europe: renewed interest from the corporate world in sourcing innovation through venture capital investments. As the leading venture capital investor in Europe, the EIF is delighted to have helped to structure this new initiative, which is part of a wider strategy to bring together large and small companies who can share much more than funding.”

MUMBAI: Twitter Inc has acquired a competing blogging platform, Posterous.

“Posterous engineers, product managers and others will join our teams working on several key initiatives that will make Twitter even better,” a Twitter blog post confirming the acquisition read.

The two companies announced the deal with separate yet similar blog posts. “The opportunities in front of Twitter are exciting and we couldn‘t be happier about bringing our team‘s expertise to a product that reaches hundreds of millions of users around the globe,” Posterous founder Sachin Agarwal wrote in a Posterous blog post.

Posterous was founded in 2008 by Stanford grad and former Apple (AAPL) worker Agarwal, who developed the company at startup incubator Y Combinator. The blogging platform was meant to be extremely simple, with the ability to post using just an email.

The company, with 15 employees, claims 15 million users and has received $5.1 million in venture funding from firms such as Redpoint Ventures and Trinty Ventures.

MUMBAI: News Corp. has offloaded its entire stake in cable firm Hathway Cable & Datacom, allowing it to focus on its direct-to-home (DTH) and broadcasting businesses in India.

The Rupert Murdoch-led media conglomerate sold its 17.3 per cent stake to private-equity firm Providence and Macquarie Bank for Rs 3.58 billion.

Providence is the buyer and Macquarie Bank has acted on its behalf, it is learnt.

News Corp, the second largest shareholder in Hathway, held the stake through Asian Cable Systems.

“We have exited from Hathway. We were a minority partner. We didn‘t feel the need for investing into so many businesses and do not have the management bandwidth. We will continue to have presence in DTH (through Tata Sky) on the distribution side of the business,” Star India CEO Uday Shankar told Indiantelevision.com.

Asian Cable Systems sold its entire holding of 24,715,500 shares through open market transactions for Rs 145 per share, according to filings with the National Stock Exchange.

Around 14.1 million shares were purchased by Providence Equity Advisors Mauritius for Rs 2.05 billion, while remaining 10.5 million shares were acquired by Macquarie Bank for Rs 1.53 billion.

The shares were sold through separate bulk deals at the NSE.

As of 31 December 2011, other promoter entities include Akshay Rajan Raheja (17 per cent), Viren Rajan Raheja (16.74 per cent), Hathway Investments (10.47 per cent) and Spur Cable & Datacom Pvt Ltd (5.36 per cent).

Other major non-promoter shareholders of the company include Infrastructure India Holding Fund, Reliance Capital Trustee Co Ltd, Government Pension Fund Global, UTI Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund.

News Corp. had acquired 26 per cent in Hathway way back in 2000, after it exited from Subhash Chandra-promoted Siticable.

Hathway scrip closed at Rs 179.55 on BSE, up 1.3 per cent.

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said today that digitisation would “create a more equitable and transparent system” and provide “better viewing experience at affordable cost”.

In her last address to the joint sitting of Parliament, on the opening day of the budget session, she said the Government had undertaken a time-bound programme to convert the entire analogue cable television system to digital by December 2014.

She said, “In order to extend FM radio services to millions living in small towns and remote areas, the Government had taken a significant decision to e-auction 839 FM Radio Channels in 245 cities across the country including in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.”

She said the Government was working on new policies on Telecom, Information Technology and Electronics. A National Optical Fibre Network was being created at a cost of Rs 200 billion for providing broadband connectivity to all panchayats. Suitable measures were being put in place to facilitate the domestic manufacture of IT hardware.

She said efficient and automated delivery of public services with minimum human intervention is one of the keys to reducing corruption. More than 97,000 Common Service Centres had been established across the country for making public services conveniently available to citizens under the National e-Governance programme. Increasingly, public services under all e-Governance projects will be delivered through Internet and mobile phones.

NEW DELHI: The direct-to-home (DTH) platforms have made a strong plea for doing away with the entertainment tax levied by the states and the 10.3 per cent service tax levied by the Centre.

The DTH Operators Association of India has said that the entertainment tax is unethical as only the broadcasters or those who generate programmes should be taxed.

Harit Nagpal, President of the Association, told indiantelevision.com that the entertainment tax varies from state to state and the average percentage was around 10 per cent.

Nagpal, who is MD and CEO of Tata Sky, said all the DTH players have to pay customs duty on set-top boxes (STBs) imported into the country, which was as high as 20 per cent. This was unethical when the country was resorting to digitisation.

All the DTH operators also had to a pay huge amount as licence fee.

Nagpal regretted that the industry had for long been hearing about Goods and Services tax (GST), but this had still not come into effect. He hoped that the Negative List to be prepared by the Finance Ministry will help the industry.

Meanwhile, Dish TV called for the basic customs duty on digital head-end and STBs to be reduced to zero for three years to give a boost to digital conversion.

In its demands from the Finance Ministry for the new budget, Dish TV also wants the double charge of service tax and entertainment tax to be subsumed in the GST. It said there should some relief in licence fee from the existing 10 per cent to 6 per cent as agreed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Noting that Dish TV expects positive move from Government on taxation, it said there is heavy taxation on the DTH industry which is already paying multiple taxes such as service tax, entertainment tax, licence fee and VAT.

It added that the double charge of service tax and entertainment tax should be subsumed in GST.

Bharti Airtel CEO (DTH/Media) Shashi Arora said the high tax of 35 per cent in toto does not give the DTH sector impetus to grow at the high rate and help digitisation. Levying of service tax, licence fees, and entertainment tax in addition to customs duty makes the package expensive for the common user and also discriminates against analogue cable which is free from paying these taxes.

He told indiantelevision.com that the government should have a relook at Entertainment Tax which is as high as 25 per cent in some states.

Since a DTH setup is far more transparent as against a local analogue cable, Arora said this tax appears unfair and anti-DTH consumer. “We recommend the government brings in the Goods and Services tax (GST) and covers DTH under it,” he added.

He said there was currently a dearth of quality indigenous manufacturers of the STBs in India capable of the scale required for DTH. The number of manufacturers of chip sets in the world was also very small, of which only a handful are based out of India. Thus, 95 per cent of the demand for STBs is met via imports. In order to drive digitisation, the custom duty on digital STBs needs to be brought down.

Arora added: “We would also request an urgent rationalisation of the 10 per cent licence fee levied on the DTH platform. The bulk of the costs of the DTH operator is content, that is the money paid for carrying paid channels on the platform. It is our recommendation that either the calculation is changed to adjusted gross revenue subtracting the content cost from gross revenue or the amount brought down to 6 per cent of gross revenue. This will go a long way in enabling the industry to overcome its losses.”

He added: “Today, every DTH operator from the largest to the smallest is bleeding and the appetite for fresh investment will decline unless this is corrected quickly.”

Arora said the industry expected that allowing the use of infrastructure of DTH companies for catering to neighbouring countries (with the same infrastructure) should be deemed as exports of services.

He was confident that with the government’s support and reform-led approach, the DTH sector would be in position to usher in the second telecom revolution. “We hope for a progressive budget that is growth oriented in spirit,” he added.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, while agreeing with the objective of the government in its draft Telecom Policy for a Unified Licence regime in order to exploit the attendant benefits of convergence, says spectrum should be kept out of the purview of this licence.

Trai says spectrum should be separately available through a market driven process enabling the realisation of its appropriate value. The policy envisages making available adequate globally harmonised spectrum spectrum to ensure efficient delivery of telecom services through appropriate audit and refarming.

Even as Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had announced on 15 February that he had accepted the view of delinking spectrum from the unified licence, he had said ‘a final view on implementation of the Unified License Regime would be taken after receipt of detailed Guidelines and Terms and Conditions from Trai for Unified Licence including migration path for all existing licence(s) to Unified Licence.’

In the final recommendations on the New Telecom Policy announced by the Government in October 2011, Trai wants that additional 500 MHz spectrum to be made available for telecommunications services by the year 2017 and another 300 MHz by 2020 and says existing users of spectrum like Government departments, public sector, private sector and telecom service providers to alternate frequency bands or media should be moved, to make spectrum available for commercial telecom services.

Provision of broadband facility is a sine qua non for delivery of convergent services. A National Optic Fibre Network will be established, connecting all the Gram Panchayats in the first phase and all the villages/habitations in the second phase, both of which will be completed in a definite time frame. The policy also seeks to make available adequate spectrum for wireless broadband services.

Optic fibre network

Separately, the country has embarked upon a time bound programme of digitisation, with addressability of the cable TV network. With availability of optic fibre network as well a digital cable TV network, it is expected that the spread of fixed lines will increase significantly enabling Fixed-Mobile Convergence, thereby enhancing the spectrum utilisation which is a finite and scarce resource.

The National Telecom Policy 2012 (NTP 2012) also aims to introduce Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) in the country; actively encourage establishment and use of landlines based on optical fibre network and cable networks so as to promote Fixed-Mobile Convergence; and provide reliable and affordable broadband access in the country including in rural and remote areas by appropriate combination of optical fibre, wireless and other technologies.

Trai will periodically fix the minimum broadband download speeds of broadband to facilitate availability of broadband progressively at speeds higher than the laid down minimum.

The optical fibre network will be laid by an independent agency, initially up to the village Panchayat level and to be extended progressively in a time bound manner, to all villages and habitations having a population of more than 500 persons. Access to this Optical Fibre Network will be open, non-discriminatory and technology neutral.

Trai wants that enabling provisions should be incorporated in the current regulatory framework in order to facilitate utilisation of existing infrastructure including cable TV networks for extending high quality broadband services including in rural areas.

The aim will also be to ensure that all local content is hosted on servers located within the country; rationalise the duties levied on inputs and finished products and provide requisites incentives to ensure affordability of Customer premises equipment including modem; and provide appropriate tax benefits to telecom infrastructure provider companies.

Bridge digital mode via digitisation

In its aim to obliterate the digital divide between the rural and urban areas, Trai wants the government to ensure through coordination with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, a time bound digitisation of the cable industry in all the rural areas; and impose rural roll out obligations in all licenses where spectrum is being provided such that all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above are covered by the service providers.

While attracting foreign investment and foreign institutional investment, it should be ensured that intellectual property rights are protected; and clearances required for foreign direct investment should be expedited.

Trai wants penal powers of civil court

The regulator wants a review of the Trai Act with a view to addressing regulatory inadequacies/impediments in effective discharge of its functions; and to confer penal and enforcement powers to Trai, so as to enable it to protect the interest of consumers by ensuring compliance of its regulations/directions/orders by the service providers, in addition to conferring powers of civil court to enable the Authority to summon persons and receive evidence and also call for expert advice while conducting enquiry.

At the outset, it said telecommunications is no longer limited to voice. The evolution from analog to digital technology has facilitated the conversion of voice, data and video to the digital form. Increasingly, these are now being rendered through single networks bringing about a convergence in networks, services and also devices.

The telecom networks as information highways are capable of being used for distribution of various converged services, giving citizens access to not only voice communication but also information, entertainment and various applications that can significantly improve their lives. Once a mere communication device, telephone has now the potential of being an instrument of empowerment. There is need to reorient the telecommunication policy to exploit this potential and to foster a rapid and inclusive growth.

The Policy states: “It is now imperative to move towards convergence between telecom, broadcast and IT services, networks, platforms, technologies and overcome the existing segregation of licensing, registration and regulatory mechanisms in these areas to enhance affordability, increase access, delivery of multiple services and reduce cost. It will be a key enabler of equitable and inclusive growth. The policy aims to address and enable the coordinated action to respond to the dynamic needs resulting from confluence of telecom, broadcasting and IT sectors.”