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Tag: Telecommunications Ministry

  • DoT & TRAI officials feel satcom policy needs ‘fundamental rethink’

    DoT & TRAI officials feel satcom policy needs ‘fundamental rethink’

    NEW DELHI: Two top Indian government officials from Telecom Ministry and TRAI feel the country must have a "fundamental rethink" on satellite communication policy to meet rising connectivity needs that are being fuelled by mobile data growth, digital aspirations, demand from the country’s broadcasting sector and advent of new-age technologies.

    Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Wednesday outlined the massive growth in mobile data consumption, driven by first-time users, and India's increasing digital clout, and said there is "no looking back" for the country when it comes to strengthening its communications infrastructure.

    She said that in an era of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for communication infrastructure "far from slowing down, will increase exponentially".

    "We must have digital communications infrastructure that facilitates all this…We really must have a fundamental rethink on India's satcom policy in light of what are the emerging requirements and India's aspirations," Sundararajan said addressing the annual satcom summit 'India SatCom-2018' organised by Broadband India Forum (BIF), a PTI report stated.

    She further said that the demand for communication network is also being propelled by financial service industry, digital payment companies, smartphone usage and social media.

    Sundararajan noted that the draft national digital communications policy aims to provide universal broadband connectivity at 50Mbps to every citizen by 2022, create four million additional jobs, and also talks of enhancing the contribution of digital communications sector to eight per cent of India’s GDP from approximately 6 per cent now.

    "If we are to achieve robust modern digital communications infrastructure that the country needs…it has estimated the need for investment at USD 100 billion. Often, we in government are asked if that is a high figure, but I don't think so…I think this is realistic investment number in sync with our infrastructure requirements," PTI quoted her as saying.

    Stating that the country must embark on comprehensive review of its satellite communications policy, she stressed on the need to strike a balance between autonomy, security and the country's communications demand. "…it is possible to find a sweet spot between these three aspects. Other countries have done so, and I don't think it is impossible for India to strike a calibrated position keeping these three imperatives in mind…Keeping our strategic capabilities and requirements in mind, we need to look at how we can bridge the deficit in term of communication requirements," she pointed out.

    The summit also delved on various aspects of communications, including broadband connectivity to the remote parts of the country, satellite mobility, inflight connectivity, new technologies and innovations.

    Echoing sentiments similar to Sudararajan, telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI secretary SK Gupta, while addressing the valedictory session of the event, opined that “mainstreaming of satcom” issues was heartening.

    Pointing out that satellite transponder allocation process in India “needs a review” and the mechanism an “overhaul”, Gupta said that no regulatory hurdle should be created against use of any technology as satellite communication is very important for various applications and services.

    The one and half day satcom conference saw the convergence of not only ideas and trends, but also of representatives from the industry and government, including those from India’s space agency ISRO, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and BECIL.

  • BharatNet project will boost rural broadband services: Telecom Minister

    BharatNet project will boost rural broadband services: Telecom Minister

    NEW DELHI: There are 412.60 million broadband connections in the country of which 106.52 million are in rural areas, Communication Minister Manoj Sinha said yesterday.

    Sinha said in the Lok Sabha or India’s Lower House of Parliament that broadband services in rural areas have seen good progress on the back of substantial development in the telecommunication sector.

    “The number of broadband connections in the country as on 31 March 2018 stood at 412.60 million out of which rural broadband connections are 106.52 million, which constitutes 25.82 per cent of total connections,” he said, adding that the government is implementing the flagship BharatNet project to link each of the 250,000 gram panchayats or the local village administrations in the country through optical fibre network.

    This is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind and is the first pillar of the Digital India programme, he said.

    Phase-I of the project has been completed in December 2017 and over 100,000 village administrations have been made service-ready. Phase II of BharatNet project, which aims to connect 150,000 gram panchayats (GPs) through high speed broadband, has been launched and is targeted to be completed by March 2019.

    The optical fibre being laid under the BharatNet project is expected to be the primary means for internet backhaul, which can be leveraged to service the telecommunications towers in the rural areas. This, in turn, will give a boost to mobile internet availability and adoption in the rural areas. 

    As part of BharatNet project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology is being provided at all the GPs in the country. At each GP, on an average five access points are envisaged that include three points for government institutions and two for public places.

    Overall mobile Internet penetration in the country has seen major changes in the last four years. The total number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) across the country has increased from 790,000 in 2014 to more than 18,00000 as of March 2018 of which 905,000 BTS are of 4G. The increased number of BTS has resulted in greater adoption of mobile internet across the country, the Minister said. 

  • India sets up nationwide inspection programmes

    India sets up nationwide inspection programmes

    MUMBAI: India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance programme that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said.

    The expanded surveillance in the world‘s most populous democracy, which the government says will help safeguard national security, has alarmed privacy advocates at a time when allegations of massive US digital snooping beyond American shores have set off a global rumpus.

    The Central Monitoring System (CMS) was announced in 2011 but there has been no public debate and the government has said little about how it will work or how it will ensure that the system is not abused.

    The government started to quietly roll the system out state by state in April this year, according to government officials. Eventually it will be able to target any of India‘s 900 million landline and mobile phone subscribers and 120 million Internet users.

    Officials said making details of the project public would limit its effectiveness as a stealthy intelligence-gathering tool.

    “Security of the country is very important. All countries have these surveillance programmes,” said a senior telecommunications ministry official, defending the need for a large-scale eavesdropping system like CMS.

    “You can see terrorists getting caught, you see crimes being stopped. You need surveillance. This is to protect you and your country,” said the official, who is directly involved in setting up the project.

    The new system will allow the government to listen to and tape phone conversations, read e-mails and text messages, monitor posts on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and track searches on Google of selected targets, according to interviews with two other officials involved in setting up the new surveillance programme, human rights activists and cyber experts.

    Security agencies will no longer need to seek a court order for surveillance or depend, as they do now, on Internet or telephone service providers to give them the data, the government officials said.