Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the country is working towards giving the world a complete Made in India phone, from chip to finished product.
“India is one of the most happening countries when it comes to telecom and its related technologies," says PM Modi.
“India had a mobile phone user base of 120 crore, 95 crore internet users and digital transactions of more than 40% of the entire world in real-time. India had showcased how digital connectivity had become an effective tool for the last mile delivery,” he adds.
The PM says that the country's mobile and telecom journey is a subject of study for the whole world today and that telecom as a medium has been helping in bridging the gap between villages and cities, rich and poor today.
Reminiscing his presentation, a decade ago, on the vision of Digital India, PM Modi remarked that he had stated that India had to move forward with a holistic approach as against a piecemeal approach. PM Modi listed out the four pillars of Digital India – Low-priced devices, extensive reach of digital connectivity to every nook and corner of the country, easily accessible data and the goal of ‘Digital First’, which were identified and worked upon simultaneously, leading to good results.
The Prime Minister highlighted India's transformative achievements in connectivity and telecom reforms and emphasised how the country has built a robust network of thousands of mobile towers across remote tribal, hilly, and border areas, ensuring connectivity for every household.
Modi underscored the advancements in infrastructure, including the rapid installation of Wi-Fi facilities at public places like railway stations and the connection of islands like Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep through undersea cables. “In just 10 years, India has laid optical fibre which is eight times the distance between Earth and the Moon,” says PM Modi.
He says that 5G technology was launched two years ago and today nearly every district is connected, making India the world's second-largest 5G market. He further mentioned that India is already progressing towards 6G technology, ensuring a future-ready infrastructure.
Discussing telecom sector reforms, the Prime Minister noted India's efforts in lowering data costs. He said that the cost of internet data in India is now as low as 12 cents per GB compared to many countries in the world where one GB of data is 10 to 20 times more expensive. “Today, every Indian consumes about 30 GB of data on an average every month,” he said.
PM Modi underlined that India democratized digital technology and created digital platforms where innovations on these platforms created millions of new opportunities. He highlighted the transformative power of the JAM Trinity—Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile—saying it has laid the foundation for countless innovations. The Prime Minister pointed out the role of digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic ensuring seamless processes such as financial transfers to those in need, real-time communication of guidelines, vaccination drive and handing out digital vaccine certificates. Reflecting on India’s success, the Prime Minister expressed the nation's willingness to share its digital public infrastructure experience globally.
