Satellite broadband will get special attention in the upcoming new National Telecom Policy as the government goes about bridging the current digital divide, Manoj Sinha, Minister of Communication, has said.
According to The Business Lines, while addressing the third international annual SatCom Summit, India SatCom 2017, Sinha said satellite communications has the power and the ability to provide affordable digital connectivity to the “un-served and the under-served”.
“The endeavour of the government is to accelerate the rollout of affordable internet to every Indian with the use of new and innovative technologies, and satellite broadband is one of the many routes that we will pay more attention to.”
He said the proposed new NTP seeks to enable the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India by which all its 1.3 billion citizens will be digitally empowered
As per the findings of a white paper on Satellite Broadband and Digital India, released at the event, there is approximately a 50 per cent mismatch between the current demand for communications satellites and their supply. This has led to a shortfall in meeting the demand from the enterprise and commercial segments, besides others.
Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said digital transformation is not a luxury but a critical necessity. It is in this context that the upcoming NTP becomes very significant. “We also believe that opening the sector can provide an impetus to Make in India and open the possibility of additional jobs in high-growth and high-technology sectors,” she said.
