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Tag: optic fibre

  • GST on set-top boxes & optic fibre down to 18%

    GST on set-top boxes & optic fibre down to 18%

    NEW DELHI: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) for set top boxes has been reduced to 18 per cent from the previously announced 28 per cent.

    Similarly, the GST Council also reduced the tax on coaxial cables and optical fibre to 18 per cent from the hitherto 28 per cent in both cases.

    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “After considering recommendations of fitment committee, rates are being reduced in the case of 66 items.” 

    Jaitley is also the chairman of the GST Council. He said that there were 133 representations and these were considered.

    Other items relating to the electronics and the media and entertainment industry in which GST was reduced are: 

    public://gst.jpg

  • Government to link rural areas by optic fibre network for broadband growth

    Government to link rural areas by optic fibre network for broadband growth

    NEW DELHI: In a bid to promote broadband growth in the country, the government is planning to link all the gram panchayats and rural areas through optical fibre cable network.

     

    Addressing the 11th National Summit e-governance and Digital India inclusive growth through digital empowerment by ASSOCHAM, Bharat Net chairman & MD Aruna Sundarajan said that the country was entering into a new era of digital empowerment. “Our digital project is a giant leap to bridge the digital divide between urban and the rural India by linking all the gram panchayats in the country through the common platform of optical fibre cable. Our vision is to transform our country into a knowledge economy.”

     

    She said optical fibre is the most economical means of communication as it can carry higher bandwidth applications. “We will ensure high-speed broadband connectivity to all the gram panchayats. This is to be achieved by utilising the existing optical fibre network of public sector companies and extending it to village panchayats,” she added.

     

    The vision of Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The programme is implemented in phases from the current year till 2018. Digital India is transformational in nature and would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically, a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based on authentic and standard based interoperable and integrated government applications and data basis.

     

    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma a second warning will be issued to telecom operators about call drops next month. He added opposition to setting up telecom towers in residential areas was based on apprehensions that were baseless. He said the TRAI, telecom operators and government together should promote an awareness campaign on this if service quality has to improve.

     

    Pointing out that quality was a two-way street, Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta said that Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had written to state chief ministers to provide sites for setting up telecom infrastructure. However, he wanted the State Electricity Boards to take up the electricity supply to telecom towers on a priority basis.

     

    Deloitte India senior director Santosh Anoo said, “Focused execution using innovative partnership models will expedite the realisation of the Digital India vision. The best of breed localised solutions with focus on total cost of ownership will build on the great start and deliver viable business models.”

  • “Digitisation will boost GDP growth” – Ravi Shankar Prasad

    “Digitisation will boost GDP growth” – Ravi Shankar Prasad

    MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad today stressed on how the country’s growth is interlinked to this programme.
    “The government is dedicated to creating a digital ecosystem that will enable internet to touch the lives of all Indians,” Prasad, who was speaking at the 9th India Digital Summit of IAMAI, said.
    He further pointed out how it was imperative to create hubs in rural India that will help the growth of e-commerce, which remains unexplored so far. “Unless connectivity reaches every village of India, the dynamics of growth will remain unchanged,” he said.
    Speaking on access, Prasad said, “It took 30 years to cover 10 lakh kilometres of optic fibre laying, and in just next three years, seven lakh kilometres will be added, making rural connectivity a reality.”
    Releasing the IAMAI &The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report India@Digital.Bharat, Prasad said, “For the internet economy to touch $200 billion by 2020 that will contribute five per cent of GDP, we need to move at a fast pace towards computer literacy. The other key areas which will help the internet economy to grow is mobile internet. The government is committed to digitisation and we look at extensive public-private partnerships (PPP) to the have successful implementation.”
    The India@Digital.Bharat report establishes that India is headed towards an internet economy worth $200 billion by 2020, that will contribute five per cent of the GDP growing at 23 per cent compared to 13 per cent overall.

    As the following chart shows, Internet in India by 2018 will be more mature and mobile will be more predominant.

    The number of internet users in rural areas will touch 210 million by 2018, aiding India’s internet user base to cross 500 million by 2018.

    Speaking at the launch of the report, BCG senior partner and director Alpesh Shah said, “India will have more than half a billion internet users in the next three years – this growth has the potential to fundamentally change the way in which consumers save, learn, play, move and work. However, the extent of shift will depend a lot on how the government and the industry come together to unlock the true potential of the internet.”
    IAMAI chairman and Google India managing director Rajan Anandan, stressed on the growth of internet in India and successful roll-out of the government’s Digital India programme. “India is the third country in the world to have over five Internet companies valued at over $1 billion. India is the fastest growing Internet country but we need to move from narrow band to broadband at the earliest,” Anandan said.