Minister for Communication & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Sunday that the Centre would take a “structured view”, after receiving a report from the “Telecom Regulatory Authority of India” (TRAI).
Talking to media persons here after holding a review meeting departments under his ministry, Prasad said: “TRAI is considering the entire nuances of net neutrality. We are awaiting their report. After receiving the TRAI report, the Government will take a structured view”.
Prasad, however, opined that Internet, being one of the finest creations of human mind, should not remain the monopoly of few . The minister said that connectivity should be the utmost priority for making Digital India campaign successful.
Prasad said several steps were being taken to address the issues of connectivity including spread of broadband, wi-fi and Next Generation Network across the country. He also said 2500 Wi Fi hotspots would set up by next financial year.
“Digital India’ is aimed at empowering the poor and the underprivileged. We want a small time tea-seller, a paanvala, a carpenter to seek services through his mobile phones. That is the concept of real ‘Digital India,” he said.
The minister disclosed that while mobile phone connectivity had increased to 100 crore people in the country, the internet connectivity and internet connectivity had gone up to 40 crore. “We will strengthen digital india for healthy, education, entertainment and ecommerce and to make india a truly empower society” he said.
Dwelling on the road map of improving connectivity in Maharashtra, Prasad said that 4 lakh connections under Next Generation Network (NGN) would be made available in Maharashtra during the Financial Year 2016-17.
“We will make available NGN Service would be available in Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Kalyan and Nanded in Maharashtra and Goa, which is also part of the Maharashtra Telecom circle,” he said.
NGN is a packet ba sed network which provides voice, data and other media services at high speed. Prasad announced that 174 Wi Fi hotspots would be installed in 58 cities across Maharashtra. He said a new Mobile Intelligence Network would be set up in Pune, which would facilitate pre-paid mobile service customers.
“For Mumbai, the MTNl is laying Optical fibre which aims to provide High Speed Broadband to 1 lakh households in the city. As many as 6,000 city surveillance cameras will be installed at 1800 locations, in collaboration with the Mumbai Police,” the minister said.
Prasad said that the Government was planning to set up BPOs in the form of Mofussil call centres across India with 48,000 seats. Out of these, Maharashtra will have 35 call centres of 3500 seats. “BPO Call Centres at small places and mofussil towns will become the crux of digital India” the Minister said.
Alluding to the performance of the Postal Department, Prasad said the Government has asked India Post to become an active player in the e-Commerce segment. “A CAG Survey of 8 states has concluded that the Speed Post Service of India Post has been declared the best courier service. He informed that the parcel revenue which registered a 2% decline in 2013-14, registered 37% growth in 2014-15. It grew by 117% by December 2015,” he said.
The Minister said that India Post Payment Bank would become operational by March 2017 to extend access to formal banking in rural areas. “India Post is getting very good attention from across the world. Already 40 national and international consortia have evinced interest to partner with the Postal Department for insurance delivery and other financial products,” he said.