India is rapidly becoming a big exporter of telecom technology, says Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, while addressing a gathering after inaugurating the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area Office and Innovation Centre, said that India is moving fast to become a big exporter of telecom technology from being only a user few years ago.

He stated that India is one of the countries to roll out 5G mobile technology at the fastest rate. He highlighted that 5G services have been expanded over 125 cities within 120 days of its launch. In addition, the number of internet users have increased from 25 crores in 2014 to 85 crores with a majority in the rural areas.

Furthermore, Mr. Narendra Modi announced that India will soon set up 100 new 5G labs, which will be helpful in developing 5G applications with respect to the unique needs of India. He also unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Document and launched the 6G R&D Test Bed. The Bharat 6G Vision Document is prepared by the Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG-6G) that was constituted in November, 2021 with members from various ministries/departments.

The Prime Minister also called this decade a ‘Techade’ because of the smooth, secure, transparent, and trusted telecom and digital model of India.

It should be noted that ITU is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs). In March, 2022, India signed a Host Country Agreement with ITU in order to establish an area office. The area office in India is also envisaged to have an Innovation Centre embedded in it, making it unique among other area offices of ITU. The new area office, fully funded by India, is located on the second floor of the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) building at Mehrauli in New Delhi.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.