Enhanced Tele-Density
Context:
Telecom Minister announced that by mid-2025, as many as 25,000 villages without telecom and mobile internet access will be connected, achieving full “saturation” across the country.
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Tele-density, also known as telephone density, refers to the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within a geographical area. |
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- State-run BSNL is set to roll out its 4G network with 100,000 telecom towers by mid-2024.
- Although 450,000 towers have been installed nationwide, some villages remain unconnected.
- The government has committed to erecting nearly 20,000 additional towers and investing ₹45,000 crore towards this initiative by mid-2025.
- Northeast India has the highest number of unconnected villages, approximately 6,000, with about half now connected.
- India, through the Bharat 6G Alliance, aims to capture 10% of international patents in the telecom sector.
- The Union Commerce and Industry Minister unveiled a new trade portal [FAST (Futuristic, Accessible, Single window, Transformational)] to provide real-time trade-related information to exporters.
National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP), 2018
It is a comprehensive policy framework formulated by the Government of India to address the evolving needs of the digital communications sector.
Vision and Objectives: The policy aims to fulfil the information and communication needs of citizens and enterprises through the establishment of a ubiquitous, resilient, secure, accessible and affordable Digital Communications Infrastructure and Services. It seeks to accomplish the following strategic objectives by 2022:
- Provisioning of Broadband for All
- Creating 4 Million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector
- Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India’s GDP from ~ 6% in 2017
- Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017
- Enhancing India’s contribution to Global Value Chains
- Ensuring Digital Sovereignty
Key Missions:
Connect India:
- Creating Robust Digital Communications Infrastructure
- Provide Universal broadband connectivity at 50Mbps to every citizen by 2022
- Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022
- Enable 100 Mbps broadband-on-demand for all key development institutions
Propel India:
- Enabling Next Generation Technologies and Services through Investments, Innovation and IPR generation
- Attract investments of USD 100 Billion in the Digital Communications Sector
- Expand to 5 Billion connected devices
- Accelerate IoT ecosystem transition to Industry 4.0 by 2022
Secure India:
- Ensuring Sovereignty, Safety and Security of Digital Communications
- Establish a strong, flexible and robust data protection regime
- Develop security standards for equipment and devices
- Formulate a policy on encryption and data retention
Key Strategies:
- Establishment of a National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority
- Promoting local manufacturing of equipment in digital communication technologies
- Simplifying licensing and regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, etc.
- Ensuring customer satisfaction, quality of service and effective grievance redressal