Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw has appealed to the captains of the telecom industry to keep adding value and ensure that disruption in technology doesn’t adversely affect people used to old technology.

Speaking at an event organised by the India Mobile Congress, he pointed to the rapid changes in technology that were making any generation of telecom last only for a few years, stating that virtualisation of network technology will bring in new challenges. Lauding the growth of the telecom industry from 6.5 lakh to 23 lakh base stations in the past 7 years, he called for security of telecom devices, while pointing to similar concerns raised by various nations.

Minister of State for Telecom, Devusinh J Chauhan said that BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) will soon deploy indigenously designed 4G network across the country, which will be extensively available by the 3rd quarter of next year.

Pointing to the importance of the telecom sector noticed during the pandemic, he added that the sector has the potential to transform a demographically young India, while he lauded a significant reduction in the price of mobile data in the past decade which enabled spread of mobile technology.
Extending a warm welcome to foreign investors, Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman pointed out that rural connectivity and quality services will be the key focus areas for the government.

Lauding the role of innovation in enabling customised services, he stressed that all new technology, including virtual reality, will be defined based on digital connectivity.