PM Modi Inaugurates New ITU Area Office & Innovation Centre in Delhi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, inaugurated the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area Office and Innovation Centre in India.

During an event in New Delhi, the Prime Minister also unveiled Bharat 6G Vision Document and launched the 6G Research and Development Test Bed and Call Before U dig App.

Speaking on this occasion, the Prime Minister said, the country is marching toward the next step of the digital revolution and India’s digital model is smooth, secure, transparent, trusted, and tested. He said this decade is India’s tech-ade. Highlighting the speedy expansion of the 5G services in the country, Mr Modi said, India is among the fastest country in the world to roll out 5G services. He said the 5G services have reached over 125 cities and 350 districts within a short span of 120 days. He said India is going to set up 100 5G labs in the country which will help in developing applications and technologies according to the unique need of the country. Mr Modi said, the country is now talking about 6G services, which shows India’s confidence.

The Prime Minister said, telecom technology is not only a mode of power for the country but it is a mission to empower. He said several steps have been taken in the last nine years to increase the speed of digital inclusion.

He said, there were six crore broadband users in the country before 2014, which now reached 80 crores. He said the internet users were 25 crores before 2014, which now increased to 85 crores. He said, 25 lakh kilometres of optical fibres were laid in the country in the last nine years and more than two lakh gram panchayats were linked with optical fibres. He said the speed of the digital economy is 2.5 per cent faster than the speed of growth of the economy.

Mr Modi said, reducing the regional divide is one of its priorities during the presidency of G20. He said Global South is working to working towards bridging the technological divide. He said, when we talk about bridging the technological divide, it is very natural to expect from India. He said the country’s potential, innovation, infrastructure, skilled manpower, and favourable policy environment are the pillars of these expectations.

He said, the two major power of India is trust and scale and this is required to provide last-mile connectivity. He said, with 100 crore mobile phones, India is the most connected democracy in the world. He said the country has administered 220 crore doses with the help of Cowin.

Highlighting the role of the Digital India initiative, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, this initiative has touched the lives of billion plus people in the country. He said digital public infrastructure is capable of solving complex problems. He said India’s 5G rollout is the fastest in the world. He said the country is now emerging as an exporter of telecom equipment and technologies.

The new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area Office and Innovation Centre will function from New Delhi. It will serve India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Iran. It will enhance coordination among nations and foster mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region.

The Bharat 6G Vision Document and 6G Testbed will provide an enabling environment for innovation, capacity building, and faster technology adoption in the country. Bharat 6G Vision Document is prepared by the Technology Innovation Group constituted in 2021 with an aim to develop a roadmap and action plans for the sixth generation of cellular networks in the country.

6G Testbed will provide a platform for academic institutions, industries, start-ups, and MSMEs to test and validate evolving information and communications technologies. Call Before U dig App is a tool envisaged for preventing damage to underlying assets like optical fibre cables, that occurs due to uncoordinated digging and excavation activities, leading to loss of around three thousand crore rupees every year. The mobile app will connect excavators and asset owners through SMS and email notification.