India set to be engine for internet growth, telecom expert says in Noida

Telecom experts said in Noida that India is set to become the leading country for internet service market

Stressing on the importance of India’s Information technology sector and its vast population, telecom experts claimed that India is set to become the leading country for internet service market with China as the only competitor.

TRAI chief RS Sharma (second from left) at the seminar, ‘TeleFocus’, in Amity University on Friday. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

“The internet is unfolding relentlessly, forming possibilities for a new better society and India can play a major role in this sector. India has a formidable IT force and with a vast population, the market possibilities for telecom service providers are huge. In my opinion, India is set to become the engine for the growth for the internet,” said Paolo Colella, managing director, Ericsson India.

Telecom and mobile companies’ representatives had assembled at Amity University on Friday for a national telecom seminar — Telefocus 2017 — to discuss the challenges ahead of India’s in digitisation. The theme of the seminar was ‘The Internet of things and its impact on society’.

“At this moment, there are 3.9 billion smartphone users in the world and, by 2022, the figure will reach 6.8 billion. Similarly, in India we are hoping that the number of smartphone touch 1 billion by 2022,” Colella said.

“The internet has made a huge impact on the world and it has been offering endless opportunities. There are three fundamental pillars of the internet in Indian context — application, skilled workforce and a robust network. I call upon the regulators and telecom industry giants to collaborate in order to ensure the financial health of the industry,” said Akhil Gupta, vice chairman, Bharti enterprises.

Commenting on the role of telecom sector in turning India into a ‘cashless’ economy, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma said the present ecosystem is sufficient to hold digital transactions of India’s population.

“Fortunately, none of the digital transaction applications or websites require huge bandwidth to function. They are text-based and can function with even a low bandwidth. India has a total of 1 billion mobile phone users and almost all of them have GPRS enabled. I believe India can attain a cashless economy,” Sharma said.