Broadband in India is planning to unlock a trillion dollar digital economy and 10 million jobs as per #Broadband2022 released by EY in collaboration with CII.
Broadband connectivity has changed the way people communicate, socialise, create, sell, shop and work. India’s digital consumption patterns highlights the evolution. On an average Indians spend 200 minutes on mobile every day, with the second highest app downloads globally. Almost 79% of the web traffic in India is on mobile.
The EY-CII report was released by Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications at the CII Broadband Summit 2018 in the presence of eminent people from the industry.
Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications appreciated CII and EY for a timely released report and said that the report exactly echoes what the government has articulated in its vision for India.
Kiran Karnik, Chairman, CII National Committee on Telecom and Broadband said, “As we move ahead with broadband connectivity, as new technologies emerge, and with the introduction of the new policy which will be introduced in the next few months, we will see a tremendous growth for broadband in the country.”
Prashant Singhal, Emerging Markets Technology, Media & Entertainment and Telecommunications (TMT) Leader, EY said, “With the right mix of accelerators – including regulatory frameworks, government incentives and industry collaboration – India can lead the Fourth Industrial revolution. The real opportunity is to look beyond technology, and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations and communities. At the back of this, India has the potential to unlock a trillion dollar digital economy by 2022 and add up to 10 million jobs.”
Developing the best-in class robust broadband infrastructure is instrumental to India’s digital transformation. In essence, there is need for a combination of fiber and wireless technology to meet the needs of broadband connectivity. With 4G on rise and 5G on the anvil, microwave-based backhaul will become less effective. Nearly 70% of the India’s towers will need to be fiberized by 2020 from the current levels of sub-25% as a part of building future ready infrastructure.
To expedite creation of robust digital communications infrastructure, concerted efforts are needed to address supply-side impediments and improve ease of doing business. RoW rules need to be simplified and a ‘Fiber first’ policy is imperative to ensure fast and efficient deployment of high-quality of fibre across the country.
A focused approach toward #Broadband2022 will require government, regulator and industry to connect, collaborate and converge for building a sustainable digital economy.
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