India witnessed what the first day of the 7th edition of India Mobile Congress 2023 unveiled. During his address at the Inauguration Ceremony, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, revealed interesting details about what Airtel was able to achieve in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for digital India. Sunil Mittal highlighted the two bold visions - Digital India and Make in India - put forward by the PM and explained what Airtel has accomplished thus far. He emphasised the digital public infrastructure that India has built, which serves as an example for other countries lacking such infrastructure.
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He further highlighted the success that India has achieved in the manufacturing sector, particularly in digital infrastructure, in the last few years. Mittal also spoke about the two important aspects you may have been waiting for in this story: Airtel's achievements in the 5G rollout and the launch of Satellite Services in India by OneWeb (Eutelsat Group).
Airtel's 5G Rollout
Speaking about the 5G Rollout, Sunil Mittal said Airtel has been rolling out 5G services with full enthusiasm and force. "We have covered 5,000 towns and 20,000 villages in India with Airtel 5G. Airtel is rolling out 5G at a rapid pace, and as promised, by March 2024, we would have covered the entire country with 5G network. This will be truly the fastest 5G rollout anywhere in the world," he said.
Connecting Unconnected Villages
In response to the Prime Minister's call two days ago to connect all remaining villages in the country by March 2024, Mittal assured the PM that Airtel would make every effort to achieve this goal.
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Mittal said, "We are putting in a lot of effort along with the DoT, through the USOF fund, to go to North East, to go to border areas, to go to those difficult villages. But a new technology is now available for our country. Satellite communication is here to serve every inch of our country and of course the globe."
Launch of OneWeb's Satellite Services
Mittal attributed this achievement to the successful collaboration with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), stating, "With your intervention, we were able to obtain two rockets, GSLV Mk 3, from ISRO to launch 72 satellites last year and today, OneWeb constellation, in which Bharti has the largest stake, is ready to serve the globe, is ready to serve the country. Anybody, anywhere in the country, however remote or far or in difficult areas they are located, can be connected from next month onwards from our satellite ground station that has been set up in Mehsana, Gujarat."
Also Read: Eutelsat Completes Merger With OneWeb to Form Eutelsat Group
Bharti Enterprises is the largest shareholder in the merged entity of Eutelsat and OneWeb, Eutelsat Group holding a 21.2 percent share. OneWeb will be a subsidiary operating commercially as Eutelsat OneWeb with its operational centre continuing to be in London.
Continuous Support for Building Digital India
Mittal spoke for around 5 minutes and concluded by assuring the PM and everyone assembled at the event, saying, "Airtel has been at the forefront of the telecom revolution. We will keep on beautifully doing our job, we will keep on shoulder to shoulder with our other operator colleagues, build India's digital highway to support India's digital vision as well as 'Make in India'."
