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Tag: USOF

  • TRAI: Give 100 MB a month free data to rural area subs

    TRAI: Give 100 MB a month free data to rural area subs

    NEW DELHI: India’s telecoms and broadcast carriage regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended to the government to provide limited free data to rural subscribers as part of efforts to boost e-payments and digital economy.

    “In order to bridge the affordability gap for the persons residing in rural areas and to support government’s efforts towards cashless economy by incentivising digital means, the Authority recommends that a scheme under which a reasonable amount of data, say 100 MB per month, may be made available to rural subscribers for free,” TRAI said in a set of recommendations on Monday on `Encouraging Data Usage in Rural Areas Through Provisioning of Free Data’.

    TRAI further stated that greater broadband access, particularly for large parts of the rural population can be the force to drive integration of the “unconnected and the underserved in economy”, thereby helping to enhance the overall value of the network.

    “Greater broadband access has the power to augment productivity of the agricultural sector as well as small enterprises, facilitate easier and more efficient participation of the rural population in governance, generate new employment opportunities and enable a host of services like e-commerce, e-learning, e-banking etc. As an increasing number of government services are also being electronically delivered, expanding rural Internet access has become a matter of urgency and is essential in fulfilling the vision of Digital India,” TRAI said.

    The regulator further suggested that the cost of implementation of the scheme may be met from the fund that telecom operators contribute to spread telecom connectivity in rural areas or known as USOF.

    TRAI also suggested that to increase participation of other entities for incentivizing free data, there is a need to introduce third party (aggregator) to facilitate schemes that are TSPs or telecom service provider agnostic and non-discriminatory in their implementation and that this scheme for free data must not involve any arrangement between the TSP and the aggregator/content provider and should not be designed to circumvent TRAI directives banning discriminatory tariffs for data.

    As part of the process, TRAI has suggested that the aggregators will need to register with Department of Telecoms (DoT); the registrant must be a company registered under Indian Companies Act, 1956; the validity of registration shall be for five years; the registrant shall not either directly or indirectly assign or transfer the registration in any manner whatsoever to a third party either in whole or in part.

  • TRAI: Give 100 MB a month free data to rural area subs

    TRAI: Give 100 MB a month free data to rural area subs

    NEW DELHI: India’s telecoms and broadcast carriage regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended to the government to provide limited free data to rural subscribers as part of efforts to boost e-payments and digital economy.

    “In order to bridge the affordability gap for the persons residing in rural areas and to support government’s efforts towards cashless economy by incentivising digital means, the Authority recommends that a scheme under which a reasonable amount of data, say 100 MB per month, may be made available to rural subscribers for free,” TRAI said in a set of recommendations on Monday on `Encouraging Data Usage in Rural Areas Through Provisioning of Free Data’.

    TRAI further stated that greater broadband access, particularly for large parts of the rural population can be the force to drive integration of the “unconnected and the underserved in economy”, thereby helping to enhance the overall value of the network.

    “Greater broadband access has the power to augment productivity of the agricultural sector as well as small enterprises, facilitate easier and more efficient participation of the rural population in governance, generate new employment opportunities and enable a host of services like e-commerce, e-learning, e-banking etc. As an increasing number of government services are also being electronically delivered, expanding rural Internet access has become a matter of urgency and is essential in fulfilling the vision of Digital India,” TRAI said.

    The regulator further suggested that the cost of implementation of the scheme may be met from the fund that telecom operators contribute to spread telecom connectivity in rural areas or known as USOF.

    TRAI also suggested that to increase participation of other entities for incentivizing free data, there is a need to introduce third party (aggregator) to facilitate schemes that are TSPs or telecom service provider agnostic and non-discriminatory in their implementation and that this scheme for free data must not involve any arrangement between the TSP and the aggregator/content provider and should not be designed to circumvent TRAI directives banning discriminatory tariffs for data.

    As part of the process, TRAI has suggested that the aggregators will need to register with Department of Telecoms (DoT); the registrant must be a company registered under Indian Companies Act, 1956; the validity of registration shall be for five years; the registrant shall not either directly or indirectly assign or transfer the registration in any manner whatsoever to a third party either in whole or in part.

  • Around 100,000 gram panchayats to be connected through Optic Fibre by March: Sinha

    Around 100,000 gram panchayats to be connected through Optic Fibre by March: Sinha

    NEW DELHI: Around 100,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) will be connected through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to set up a network infrastructure to serve the rural masses by March next year, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said today.

    He called for holistic planning rather than piecemeal approach to achieve the vision of Digital India.

    Inaugurating a seminar organized by National Institute of Communication Finance on “ICT emerging technologies & USOF for Digital India” here, the Minister said there was need for innovation in this sector as India cannot afford to emulate the Developed economies due to limited resources.

    He said if India will lag in catching up with emerging technologies in the coming 15 to 20 years, the very existence of the country will be at stake. He exhorted officials and other stakeholders to “Walk the Talk” for achieving the Prime Minister’s vision of Transforming India through Digital Revolution. He said it is a bounden duty to digitally empower the huge chunk of population particularly in rural areas who are still deprived of the IT revolution and said the Government alone cannot do this.

    He said there is need for finding appropriate technologies for the deprived sections of society, whether it is by way network infrastructure or digital highway.

    Telecom Secretary J S Deepak said the Finance Ministry is very conservative in allocation of funds under USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund). He said despite Rs 70,000 crore being available under USOF, allocation of work is less than 40 per cent.

    However, he admitted that the execution of digital infrastructure projects particularly in rural areas needs to be speeded up. Deepak also announced that Rs 10,000 Crore will be spent in 2016-17, which is the highest in the history of USOF.

    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma said Public-Private Partnership is definitely the best mode for transforming India into Digitally Empowered Society and Knowledge Economy.

    He said when mobile telephony made its foray into India, there were twenty million fixed telephone lines and the number remains the same even today even though the mobile subscribers have crossed the 1000 million mark.

    He cautioned that the era of voice has been replaced by data and if India will lag behind in building the Digital Highway in a time bound manner, there will be problems of traffic Jam.

    The two-day long seminar will deliberate on the topics like changing role of USOF, regulatory issues and its future perspective, challenges of consolidation in digital Indian initiatives, Bharat Net and road ahead, broadband proliferation by telecom service providers, unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi etc.

  • Around 100,000 gram panchayats to be connected through Optic Fibre by March: Sinha

    Around 100,000 gram panchayats to be connected through Optic Fibre by March: Sinha

    NEW DELHI: Around 100,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) will be connected through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to set up a network infrastructure to serve the rural masses by March next year, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said today.

    He called for holistic planning rather than piecemeal approach to achieve the vision of Digital India.

    Inaugurating a seminar organized by National Institute of Communication Finance on “ICT emerging technologies & USOF for Digital India” here, the Minister said there was need for innovation in this sector as India cannot afford to emulate the Developed economies due to limited resources.

    He said if India will lag in catching up with emerging technologies in the coming 15 to 20 years, the very existence of the country will be at stake. He exhorted officials and other stakeholders to “Walk the Talk” for achieving the Prime Minister’s vision of Transforming India through Digital Revolution. He said it is a bounden duty to digitally empower the huge chunk of population particularly in rural areas who are still deprived of the IT revolution and said the Government alone cannot do this.

    He said there is need for finding appropriate technologies for the deprived sections of society, whether it is by way network infrastructure or digital highway.

    Telecom Secretary J S Deepak said the Finance Ministry is very conservative in allocation of funds under USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund). He said despite Rs 70,000 crore being available under USOF, allocation of work is less than 40 per cent.

    However, he admitted that the execution of digital infrastructure projects particularly in rural areas needs to be speeded up. Deepak also announced that Rs 10,000 Crore will be spent in 2016-17, which is the highest in the history of USOF.

    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma said Public-Private Partnership is definitely the best mode for transforming India into Digitally Empowered Society and Knowledge Economy.

    He said when mobile telephony made its foray into India, there were twenty million fixed telephone lines and the number remains the same even today even though the mobile subscribers have crossed the 1000 million mark.

    He cautioned that the era of voice has been replaced by data and if India will lag behind in building the Digital Highway in a time bound manner, there will be problems of traffic Jam.

    The two-day long seminar will deliberate on the topics like changing role of USOF, regulatory issues and its future perspective, challenges of consolidation in digital Indian initiatives, Bharat Net and road ahead, broadband proliferation by telecom service providers, unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi etc.