National Digital Communications Policy 2018 is Ambitious Says IAMAI

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) welcomed the draft National Digital Communications Policy 2018, released on May 1 for public consultations. The association said that it is a very ambitious policy and even if five of these targets are met by 2022, then it would be a significant contribution to the digital economy. DoT yesterday released the much-awaited digital communications policy keeping several new ambitious things in mind. According to IAMAI, the optimistic goals set for 2022 such as provision of broadband for all; creating 4 million additional jobs in the digital communications sector; enhancing the contribution of the digital communications sector to 8% of India’s GDP and propelling India to the top 50 nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU, are socially relevant, clearly articulated and embraces the contribution of India to the digital communications economy of the world.

“With access being the main problem in India today, it is laudable that the policy sets out to create a robust digital communications infrastructure by 2022,” says IAMAI.

The goals to provide Universal broadband coverage at 50 Mbps to every citizen; provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Mbps by 2022; enable 100 Mbps broadband on demand to all key development institutions etc. are crucial policy initiatives, which will address the problem of access to the internet.

IAMAI, in a press note, has also welcomed the policy initiative enabling next generation technologies and services through investment, innovation, indigenous manufacturing and IPR. It also stated that the goals set by the government are ambitious. “It is prudent to keep the ambitions right given the rapid growth of this sector,” added the firm.

The government has outlined that every individual should get a 50 Mbps broadband connection by 2022 and every gram panchayat should have a broadband connection of 1 Gbps. It will be interesting to see how this progresses, but the government is very keen on providing FTTH services to small villages as well.