Telecommunication services have reshaped the modern world and are an impotant tool for the social-economic development of any country. In layman’s terms, Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over the wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems In India, the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Communications formulates developmental policies for the accelerated growth of the telecommunication services in the country.
Highlights through Numbers
The telecommunication service in the nation has seen a steady increase every year and the nation is improving year by year. The Rural teledensity jumps from 44% in March 2014 to 59% in September 2021. On the other hand, Broadband connections growth was 1200 %, the connections rise to 79 crores in June 2021 from 6.1 crores in March 2014. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecom sector rises by 150% between 2014-2021 as compared to 2002-2014.
With the help of BHARAT NET, over 17,000 Gram Panchayats made Service Ready in 2021 and nearly 1.8 lakh Gram Panchayats were connected by laying 5,52,514 km Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) till 1st Nov. 2021.
Under the PM-WANI scheme, 125 Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) and 63 App Providers have been registered by DoT from 7th Jan. 2021 to 23rd Nov.2021. Under the scheme, more than 50,000 access points have been deployed.
India jumps 21 ranks, from 88 in 2020 to 67 in 2021 in Network Readiness Index-2021. In other feats, the Indigenous 5G Testbed project funded by DoT has reached its final stages; likely to be completed by 31st December’2021. 6G Technology Innovation Group (TIG) is constituted by Department to prepare India’s manufacturing and services ecosystem to capitalize on the 6G opportunity.
INDIAN TELECOM SCENARIO IN 2021
Increase in Telephone Subscription:
Total telephone connections rose to 118.9 Cr in September 2021 from 93 Cr in March 2014, with a growth of 28 % in the said period. The number of mobile connections reached 1165.97 million in September 2021. The teledensity which was 75.23% in March 2014 has reached 86.89% in September 2021.
Urban telephone connections rose to 66 crores in September 2021 from 55 Cr in March 2014, a growth of 20% while the growth in rural telephone connections was 40%, which is double of urban increase, rising from 38 Cr in March 2014 to 53 crores in September 2021. The rural teledensity jumped from 44% in March 2014 to 59% in September 2021.
Jump in Internet and broadband penetration:
· Internet connections jumped from 25.15 Cr in March 2014 to 83.37 crore in June 2021, registering a growth of 231%.
· Broadband connections rose from 6.1 Cr in March 2014 to 79 crores in June 2021, growing by about 1200%.
· Average revenue realization per subscriber per GB wireless data reduced to Rs. 9.8 in June 2021 from Rs. 268.97 in December 2014, a reduction of more than 96%.
· Average monthly data consumption per wireless data subscriber increased by 22605% to 14 GB in June 2021 from 61.66 MB in March 2014.
Growth in BTS and Towers:
· The number of Mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) increased from 8 lakh in 2014 to 23 lakhs in 2021 growing by 187 %.
· The number of mobile towers increased from 4 lakh in 2014 to 6.6 lakh in 2021 growing by 65%.
PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES
(i) Service delivery in villages through BharatNet – Progress in 2021
The scheme helped to facilitate ease of doing business and encourage local shops and small establishments to become Wi-Fi providers. The last-mile Public Wi-Fi providers require no license, no registration, and will not need to pay any fees to DoT under the scheme.
In 2021 from 01 Jan to 31 Oct, a total of 17,232 GPs have been made service ready of which 16,344 GPs are on Optical Fiber Cable and 888 GPs are on satellite media. In addition, 4218 GPs have been connected over satellite media taking the number of total Service Ready GPs to 1,66,088. On 30.06.2021, Government accorded approval for a revised strategy for implementation of BharatNet through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 16 States of the country covering about 3.61 lakh villages (including 1.37 lakh GPs).
(ii) Installation of mobile towers in LWE (Left Wing Extremism) affected areas
(iii) 210 out of 354 Uncovered Villages covered with mobile services
(iv) 4G based Mobile service in 502 uncovered villages under Aspirational District Scheme
(v) 1,358 towers installed under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region
(vi) Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Connectivity Laid under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Islands
(vii) Launch of Satellite-based broadband connectivity for Lakshadweep Islands: Under this Satellite project, the bandwidth has been enhanced from 318 Mbps to 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands. For Agathi, Androth, Minicoy & Kavaratti Islands, the bandwidth has been enhanced by 200 Mbps, whereas for Amini, Chetlat, Kalpeni, Kiltan & Bitra Islands, the bandwidth has been enhanced by 100 Mbps.
(viii) 50000 Access points deployed under PM-WANI
HARNESSING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
(i) High Throughput Satellites (HTS): HTS has the capability of delivering significantly enhanced data rates as compared to conventional satellites. The deployment of HTS in the coming times will be instrumental in providing abundant capacity and connectivity to unconnected or sparsely connected regions.
(ii) Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite: It is an emerging satellite technology that offers low latency communication by virtue of low propagation delay.
(iii) Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment: Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), an attached office of this department, completed the evaluation of products for determination of trusted sources on the trusted Telecom Portal.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
To lead in the global market and economy, technological ownership is necessary. The technology control also helps in the development and production of cost-effective communication network products and devices. The products help to bridge the digital divide in the county, considering the large rural geographies of India.
Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative provides a big impetus to address current and future technology needs in the telecom sector. The following initiatives are being driven in the next generation communication technologies including 5G, upcoming 6G, Quantum Communications, etc.
5G Test bed: The Indigenous 5G Test bed project funded by DoT has reached its final stages. The eight (8) implementing agencies viz IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IISC Bangalore, SAMEER, and CEWiT have been working over a period of 36 months. The indigenous 5G testbed, a visionary technology development project initiated in telecom space, will enable development, testing, and proliferation of 5G technology system components, cross-sectoral use cases, besides setting up foundation for the development of the “6G Technology landscape” in the country.
5G Reference to TRAI and rollout: With regard to the rollout of 5G services, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)- M/s Bharti Airtel, M/s Reliance Jio and M/s Vodafone Idea- have established 5G trials sites in Gurugram, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, Gandhi Nagar cities. These Metros and big cities would be the first places for the launch of 5G services in the country, next year.
6G Technology Innovation Group (TIG): A 6G Technology Innovation Group (TIG) is constituted by DoT with the objective to co-create and participate in the development of 6G technology ecosystem through increased participation in a capability description, standards development at international standard setting bodies.
Quantum Communications (QC): C-DOT, the R&D arm of DoT, is currently working on Quantum communication systems. Under the National Mission on Quantum technologies and Applications, the ETG (Empowered Technology Group) has identified C-DoT as the lead agency for Quantum Communications, one of the four components of the National Mission.
