Objectives to be achieved by 2022:
- Universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen;
- Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022;
- Creating 4 million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector;
- Attract investments of USD 100 billion in the Digital Communications Sector;
- Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices;
- Establish a comprehensive data protection regime for digital communications that safeguards the privacy, autonomy and choice of individuals;
- Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from ~ 6% in 2017; and
- Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017;
Strategy: The policy advocates –
- Establishment of a National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority;
- Establishing Common Service Ducts and utility corridors in all new city and highway road projects;
- Creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Rights of Way, standardization of costs and timelines; and
- Facilitating development of Open Access Next Generation Networks.
Name change of bodies:
- The name of Telecom Commission will be changed to Digital Communications Commission.
- The name of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will be changed to Digital Communications Regulatory Authority of India.
Comment:
- The policy has been launched in the background of world witnessing modern technological advancements in the Telecom Sector such as 5G, loT, M2M etc.
- This policy will form the main pillar of Digital India.
