Digital India Initiative

[Indx TechStyle]

Updates about Indian Communication sector, growing number of internet users, information tech, Softwares etc..
As of now, India has nearly 47 crore internet users (between 35-40%), good for a third world developing country but just 1.2% broadband subscriptions.

I will put all related news and reports here.

 

[Chinmoy]

Minimum broadband speed set to jump 4 times
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Minimum-broadband-speed-set-to-jump-4-times/articleshow/53779179.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-set-to-jump-4-times/articleshow/53779179.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Minimum-broadband-speed-set-to-jump-4-times/articleshow/53779179.cms
Mine has already jumped from Aug 1 .

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Minimum broadband speed set to jump 4 times

Representative image

HHIGHLIGHTS

• Centre is looking to mandate a four-fold increase in the minimum broadband speed.
• It will be 2 mbps (megabits per second) from 512 kbps (kilobits per second).

Tired of poor broadband speed and painfully slow downloads? That's about to change soon, with the Centre looking to mandate a four-fold increase in the minimum broadband speed -- from 512 kbps (kilobits per second) to 2 mbps (megabits per second).

"I propose to take up the matter with the communications ministry," IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told TOI. "We will consider laying down a policy for increasing the minimum broadband speed from the current levels."

The thriving start-up ecosystem across India and delivery of a variety of consumer services through mobile phone apps, including online retail, taxis and social media, are among the reasons that have led to the push for upgrading the minimum internet speed on wire and wireless networks. The last time minimum internet speed was revised was in August 2014 when it was doubled rom 256 kbps to 512 kbps.

Read Also:

• BSNL to offer 'unlimited free calls' on Sundays starting August 15

Experts and industry analysts say that the present peed is "abysmally slow" and is inadequate to match up with the fast-developing app eco-system that is fuell ng the growth of internet adoption across the country.

Prasad said that he expected telecom operators across the country to "appreciate" the move, which will now be taken up with the var ous stakeholders.

Telecom operators in the country are moving to 4G services that promise data peeds in excess of 10 mpbs.The migration to 4G is happening at a time when prices of smartphones handsets are at their lowest levels, with a 4G device being available for Rs 3,000. The government also feels that there is a need to upgrade the speed on fixedline broadband connections that are reaching homes, especially when it has initiated a highly-ambitious broadband outreach programme to connect as many as 2.5 lakh gram panchayats through optic fibre cable network called `BharatNet'.

According to a report by global content network Akamai, South Korea has the fastest average connection speed at 29 mbps and is followed by Norway at 21.3 mbps and Sweden at 20.6 mbps (global average is 6.3 mbps).

According to a report by Nasscom and Akamai, India had around 330 million fixed and mobile internet subscriptions as of December 2015. This is expected to witness a growth of approximately 20% over the next five years, taking the total subscriptions to around 730 million by 2020.

Read Also:

• Airtel offers 5GB extra data to broadband users

The move for a faster broadband speed of 2 mbps has already found resonance with telecom regulator Trai which had made a recom mendation to this effect earlier.

The government feels that faster wireline and wireless internet speed has the potential to boost the country's competitiveness in all spheres of the economy while ensuring equal and inclusive growth across urban and rural areas. "Speed must be above a certain threshold to enable use of desired applications such as video viewing or gaming... Higher electronic communication speeds are relevant in knowledge-based communities.This is because it spurs productivity, and hence increases competitiveness" Trai had said in a May 24 report.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a paper `Working Together to Connect The World by 2020' that a 10% increase in broadband penetration could raise economic growth by between 0.25% and 1.4%.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Minimum broadband speed set to jump 4 times
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-set-to-jump-4-times/articleshow/53779179.cms
Mine has already jumped from Aug 1 .

Just got late by few seconds to hit post button. That's why post appeared later than you.

 

[Chinmoy]

Just got late by few seconds to hit post button. That's why post appeared later than you.

No issue......... you have gone into details.

 

[aditya10r]

and her my ISP is providing me just 256kbps of internet connection.
FML

 

[Chinmoy]

and her my ISP is providing me just 256kbps of internet connection.
FML

Don't worry, thing would change. Work is in full swing now. All of a sudden BSNL is showing tremendous interest in implementing MPLS PAN India.

 

[aditya10r]

Don't worry, thing would change. Work is in full swing now. All of a sudden BSNL is showing tremendous interest in implementing MPLS PAN India.

BTW have you or anyone else have got their hands on railwire(i am thinking about switching to it)

 

[Chinmoy]

BTW have you or anyone else have got their hands on railwire(i am thinking about switching to it)

Railwire I've experienced in some of the client sites and its pretty fast. But I am not aware of the cost factor as its not a sought after one in this part with retail consumers.

 

[aditya10r]

Railwire I've experienced in some of the client sites and its pretty fast. But I am not aware of the cost factor as its not a sought after one in this part with retail consumers.

money no object
30_char_shit_______________________________________________________________________

 

[salute]

the internet is too fc**ing expensive for mobile users and thats the problem ,

they providing us 3g at the rate of 4g with very less data to use and the speed is actually 2g ,

you just stop using internet for couple of weeks they gonna start giving you delicious plans but that vanishes just after the another recharge ,

these mobile service provider companys are looters and thieves .

 

[spikey360]

the internet is too fc**ing expensive for mobile users and thats the problem ,

they providing us 3g at the rate of 4g with very less data to use and the speed is actually 2g ,

you just stop using internet for couple of weeks they gonna start giving you delicious plans but that vanishes just after the another recharge ,

these mobile service provider companys are looters and thieves .

If you are not living in a remote village, what is the point of buying expensive mobile data, when you can get cheap data from wired networks?

 

[salute]

If you are not living in a remote village, what is the point of buying expensive mobile data, when you can get cheap data from wired networks?

yeah but thats not the point , you gonna need mobile data at any city too ,

and is that could be excuse for unfair price and shitty service of mobile service providers .

 

[charlie]

the internet is too fc**ing expensive for mobile users and thats the problem ,

they providing us 3g at the rate of 4g with very less data to use and the speed is actually 2g ,

you just stop using internet for couple of weeks they gonna start giving you delicious plans but that vanishes just after the another recharge ,

these mobile service provider companys are looters and thieves .

4G is much cheaper to deploy then 3g is, but they have to get back the investment on 3g right, this happened in almost every country.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

PC shipments on rise in India

IMAGE: AP

India has shown a refreshing growth in the shipments of personal computers in what is another example of it bucking global trends. About 2.2 million personal computers were shipped in the country during the period between April and June, marking a 7.2 percent growth over the quarter before that. Despite the increase in demand in Q2 2016, the number — which includes PC shipped to enterprises as well as to consumers — are still 2.2 percent lower than what they were during the same period a year ago.

SEE ALSO: India will have 730 million internet users by 2020 and is already in a 'Post-PC' era

PCs shipped to consumers saw an even impressive quarterly growth of 14.5 percent, seeing about 1.05 million units moving during this period. The improvement in shipments has been credited to the Ramadan festive season as well as the government’s push to hike salary of its employees, said marketing research firm IDC.

The PC shipment growth in India comes at a time when PC manufacturers are struggling to keep sales growing in many regions. Worldwide PC shipments saw an annual decline of 4.5 percent during the period between April to June. An annual drop of 11.5 percent was also witnessed during the period between January and March.

As for vendors, India’s market is a little different from that of the world. Top OEMs Lenovo, HP, and Dell together accounted for two-third of the market share. Though Lenovo is the number one computer vendor globally with a little over 21 percent market share, the Chinese company had to settle for the third spot in India with a little over 16 percent share. HP leads the pack with 28.4 percent (up 3.4 percent quarter-on-quarter), whereas Dell is at the second position with 22.2 percent (up by 0.7 percent). Apple remains out of the picture in India's price sensitive market.

Although the demand for personal computers in India has grown in the past few years, the country is increasingly seeing its people settle for a smartphone as their choice of computing platform. In many ways, the country never had its PC revolution moment and is already living in the post-PC era.

TOPICS: DELL, HEWLETT-PACKARD, LENOVO, PC,PERSONAL COMPUTER, TECH
Just wishing that homegrown firms like HCL, Micromax and Intex get a chunk.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

In-flight Wi-Fi is finally coming to India

IMAGE: PA WIRE/PA IMAGES

For years, air travelers in India have complained about the unavailability of internet connectivity on flights. But those days will soon be behind them.

The Indian government is all set to announce a set of reforms which will let airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on all flights over Indian airspace.

Civilian flights in India will soon offer Wi-Fi services to their passengers, aviation secretary R. N. Choubey said. The home, telecommunications and aviation ministries are also in favor of allowing flights coming in and out of the country to continue their Wi-Fi services without any interruption, he added.

Wi-Fi services haven’t been permitted on domestic flights in India out of security concerns. In addition, flights that were crossing India’s airspace were also required to turn off internet services to passengers while they were in Indian airspace, a move that has upset airlines for years. The change of heart comes as Indian agencies devise ways to intercept mid-air calls and data when they need to, Choubey added.

The government of India became wary of internet services on planes after the hijacking of an Indian airlines plane on its way to Delhi from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999, according to a senior ministry official.

TOPICS: TRAVEL, INTERNET, TECH,TRANSPORTATION, WIFI

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India's smartphone revolution: 35 units, 37,000 jobs in 2 years

India has seen about 35 new smartphone factories in the past two years, with a production capacity of about 18 million devices a month, since the central government had announced a tax rationalisation for electronics products to boost local electronics manufacturing.

The new manufacturing units have generated employment for 37,000 people and led to fivefold increase in capacity. According to an official in the electronics and information technology ministry, overall mobile phone production capacity was about 68 million units in 2014, 100 million in 2015 and 350-400 million till July this year. With India becoming a global hub for mobile phone manufacturing, the government has set a target of 500 million devices a year by 2020, riding on an incentive policy and availability of good talent.

“Production capacity has reached 350-400 million in July 2016. The government has set up a task force with a vision to produce 500 million phones by 2019-20 and create five million jobs. The aim of the initiative is to export 120 million phones,” Pankaj Mohindroo, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) founder and president, told Business Standard. He said by 2020, the industry could reach Rs 3 lakh crore.
“With the target, for which the task force is working and we have achieved initial success, manufacturing activities have gone up in the country,” Mohindroo added.

The new units that have come up include that of Foxconn with five facilities, Micromax, Lava International, Intex Technologies, Videocon, Vivo Mobile, Celkon Mobiles and Flextronics.

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the mobile phone production in the country has doubled on the back of reforms announced in the 2016-17 Budget. He said due to the initiatives, especially duty rationalisation, there had been a remarkable acceleration in the field of electronics manufacturing.

To boost domestic manufacturing, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed a hike in levies on components and peripherals like batteries and chargers. However, it was later rationalised after the industry said the hike in levies will hurt manufacturers as some of these parts have to be imported. The government had removed basic customs duty (10 per cent) and special additional duty (four per cent) proposed on charger, adaptor, batteries and wired headsets.

A ministry official said that apart from phones, the reforms were helping domestic manufacturers to get into other areas like medical devices, consumer electronics, broadband equipment and set-up boxes.

SEEING GROWTH

• New manufacturing units have employed 37,000 people, a fivefold increase in capacity
• Mobile phone production capacity was about 68 million in 2014, which has increased to 350-400 million in July 2016
• Govt has set a target of 500 million devices a year by 2020
• Govt has set up a task force with a vision to produce 500 million phones by 2019-20 and create 5 million jobs
• The aim of the initiative is to export 120 million phones

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Noida is now India's mobile production hub

NOIDA: If you unclip the back of your new Samsung smartphone, or one from a homegrown brand like Karbonn, Lava or Intex, you might find a `Made in India' sticker there. And chances are that the device has been assembled in the Noida-Greater Noida region at Delhi's doorstep.

Ever since the Centre introduced a 10.5% duty differential between imported devices and those made locally in last year's Budget, the region has become India's biggest smartphone hub, with a capacity to make more than 140 million devices per annum -40% more than a year's demand.

Not that Qualcomm and MediaTek are stamping out processors here -all the critical components still come from China and Taiwan -but it is a significant start for the industry. Sources said the local industry does about 5-8% of value addition at present, and this can be scaled up to around 35% within five years.

The flurry of investments to the region was perhaps prompted by the presence of Korean giants Samsung and LG. Samsung, which started local manufacturing a decade ago and reportedly has the highest installed capacity of 40 million devices per annum - the company did not confirm it- seeded a significant number of smartphone component suppliers in the area. The company produces mobile phones from completely knocked-down (CKD) kits.

"All our mobile phones, from feature phones to the Galaxy S7 that we sell in India, are manufactured at our Noida factory, and we will continue to explore future investment opportunities," a spokesperson for Samsung said.

Now Indian brands like Lava, Intex and Karbonn, besides Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron, have also set up shop. In partnership with home-grown telecom retailer and manufacturer Optiemus, Wistron makes phones for LG, China's OnePlus and Oppo, and Taiwan's HTC. Another Chinese vendor, Water World Technology , has partnered local company UTL Group, which is one of the backers of Karbonn Mobiles. Each factory creates 3,000-4,000 direct jobs, employing mostly high-school or ITI graduates.

Proximity to Delhi, where most home-grown phone brands are headquartered, has certainly helped the region bloom despite UP's iffy image as a business destination. "The promoters wanted operations in a region that remains within their reach and under their control," said Narendra Bansal, chairman of Intex Technologies, a major Indian phone brand.

"Noida's proximity to the capital, its growing infrastructure, and development as a large residential hub close to the capital's business districts also helped," the Samsung spokesperson said.

Intex, which has three factories in Noida with an annual installed capacity of 30 million phones (feature and smart), is now setting up a 20-acre base at Kasna in Greater Noida for a larger integrated facility that will also house key suppliers. "There are huge advantages here in terms of the cost and availability of labour. The power supply is largely uninterrupted and the productivity levels are even better than China's in many cases," said Sunil Vachani of Dixon Technologies whose company makes Karbonn and Panasonic devices in a joint venture. But is it easy to do business in UP? "The benefits may be less than in states like Andhra Pradesh, which offer incentives. However, operating in the south is difficult for a north-Indian brand. Moreover, the UP administration is supportive," Vachani added.

Lava managing director Hari Om Rai said availability of land in the Noida-Greater Noida industrial area has also been an important enabler. "There may be a few instances of difficulty in getting approvals, but the broader policies are clear," said Rai whose company has an annual installed capacity of nearly 36 million devices. "We have not faced interventions by the government."

Now, even Chinese vendors and suppliers are gravitating to the region, drawn by its large production capacities. The manufacturing processes are still low-end, with a lot of assembly done manually , but efforts to increase local engagement and add sophisticated processes, such as the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCB), are on.

Analysts said PCB assembly will enhance the quality of local manufacturing. Also, there are efforts to develop R&D and design capabilities within the country , instead of relying on partners in China and Taiwan. "It will take at least 5-7 years to develop a high valueadd manufacturing set-up here," said Pardeep Jain, MD of Karbonn Mobiles.

IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said more initiatives are planned to boost the manufacturing of electronics."Electronics manufacturing is a focus of the government as part of the `Make in India' initiative. The current investments have resulted in as many as 40,000 direct jobs and over 1.2 lakh indirect employment. We estimate that mobile phone production will reach a level of around 500 million devices by 2019-20."

For now, uncertainty over the fate of the 10.5% duty differential in a GST regime is worrying investors, even though they have welcomed the simpler tax structure a GST will bring. "It will be near-suicidal to make fresh investments until GST is described," Jain said. "We do not want to gamble in such an uncertain scenario," Vachani added.

Minister Prasad said concerns around GST would be addressed."Please remember, GST is for India.Surely , in the whole fiscal architecture we will ensure that Indian manufacturing interests are saved."

Asked if the duty differential between local manufacturing and imports will be maintained, he said, "Obviously , why not... the interest of India's manufacturers will be kept in mind."

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Bharti launches 'India with Airtel' suite of connectivity solution

The company believes that having all the solutions at one place will eliminate the challenge that global businesses may face.

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has announced its 'India with Airtel' suite of services that brings all of its telecom and connectivity solutions under one roof, to meet the needs of global companies looking to set up business in India.

'India with Airtel' is being positioned as one-stop-shop for availing all telecom and connectivity solutions including mobile and fixed telephony, global and domestic data capacity and connectivity solutions, VSAT, Virtual Private Network, data centre and cloud solutions, Value Added Services and payment and billing integration, machine-to-machine, and managed services.

The company believes that having all the solutions at one place will eliminate the challenge that global businesses may face -- of dealing with multiple vendors and related integration issues -- when they set up operations in the country.

"Airtel will offer global companies, particularly those in the digital space, extensive market reach through joint go to market programmes," a company release said, adding that telecom and connectivity solutions play a critical role in the current business environment.

"Given the impetus from the government's Make in India and Digital India initiatives, India is fast becoming a definite strategic market for multinationals across the globe," Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO - Global Voice & Data Business, Bharti Airtel, said.

READ MORE:
Value Added Services|New Delhi|Market|India|Environment|Business

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Why Modi's Digital India vision is incomplete without a component to limit electronic waste

Ewaste contains over 1,000 different substances, many of which are toxic and potentially hazardous to environment and human health.
By R Gopalakrishnan

The World Economic Forum places India at No. 91 in readiness to transform into a digitalised economy. Notwithstanding this poor ranking, the government's Digital India idea is futuristic and compelling. The plan comprises three components: creation of a digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally and digital literacy. An optic fibre network will connect 2,50,000 gram panchayats, and every village in the country will be covered through mobile connectivity. Mary Meeker, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers VC fund, forecasts that India is set to become the world's second largest smartphone market in 2017. If all this can be made to work, there is no doubt that India will be transformed. But with every vision, the law of unintended consequences kicks in. When Thomas Edison built the Edison Electric Light Station with his 125-hp steam engine, he could not imagine its future environmental impact. When Henry Ford desired to make a personal car accessible to every American, it was difficult for him to visualise the pollution aspects of his ambition.

What Should India Do?

Now a whole century later, the power and auto industries are completely seized of the issues. Digitising carries the issue of ewaste. This is particularly ominous for India for two reasons: first, our national record of surveillance of laws is patchy, as evidenced by infarctions of public hygiene, industrial pollution and haphazard urbanisation; second, because India is set to adopt digitisation more rapidly than many other nations in the coming two decades, our growth of ewaste is likely to top the world charts. Therefore Digital India must have a component to limit ewaste. How big is the issue of ewaste? What is ewaste and how much will India generate? Ewaste comprises of waste generated from used electronic devices and household appliances which are not fit for their original intended use and are destined for recovery, recycling or disposal.

Such waste encompasses a wide range of electrical and electronic devices such as computers, cellular phones, personal stereos, including large household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Ewaste contains over 1,000 different substances, many of which are toxic and potentially hazardous to environment and human health, if these are not handled in an environmentally sound manner. Here are some facts and extrapolations:

1. The world already produces ewaste equivalent to seven times the size of the Giza pyramid, roughly 42 million tonnes in just 2014, as per United Nations University, the academic and research arm of UN.

2. India generated 1.7 million tonnes of ewaste in 2014 which is roughly 1.3 kg ewaste per capita. If penetration of electronics and electrical products in India by 2030 have to grow even to today's average world capita which leads to ewaste of 6 kg per capita, the absolute ewaste generation for India will grow five times the current level to 9 million tonnes in 2030.

3. Another way of estimation of ewaste generation for 2030 is taking into consideration US EPA's estimation of 5-10% global increase in the generation of ewaste each year. Given the low penetration of devices in India, our growth may well be 15% on the smaller base, approximately 15 million tonnes ewaste could be generated by 2030.

Environmental and Health Impact

Developing countries with rapidly growing economies handle ewaste from developed countries, and from their own internal consumers. Though India's ministry of environment and forest has made import of ewaste illegal, a fair amount of ewaste is still illegally imported into India. Currently, majority of ewaste handled in India is through informal sector using rudimentary practices. The informal sector's recycling practices magnify health risks. For example, primary and secondary exposure to toxic metals, such as lead, results mainly from open-air burning used to retrieve valuable components such as gold. Combustion from burning e-waste creates fine particulate matter, which is linked to pulmonary and cardiovascular disease.

While the health implications of ewaste are difficult to isolate due to the informal working conditions, poverty and poor sanitation, several studies in Guiyu, a city in south-eastern China, offer insight. Guiyu is known as the largest ewaste recycling site in the world, and the city's residents exhibit substantial digestive, neurological, respiratory and bone problems. For example, 80% of Guiyu's children experience respiratory ailments and are especially at risk of lead poisoning. Residents of Guiyu are not the only ones at risk.

These chemicals are not biodegradable. As per a WHO study, children are especially vulnerable to the health risks that may result from ewaste exposure and, therefore, need specific protection. As they are still growing, children's intake of air, water and food in proportion to their weight is significantly increased compared with adults, and with that, the risk of hazardous chemical absorption. In India, "about 4-5 lakh children in the age group of 10-15 are observed to be engaged in various ewaste activities, without adequate protection and safeguards in various yards and recycling workshops," said DS Rawat, secretary-general, Assocham, while publishing an Assocham-cKinetics 2016 study on ewaste.

Further, there are data security implications. I froze while listening to an ewaste operator, who downloaded confidential customer data from a pen drive discarded by a top IT company. Imagine home ministry or army ewaste in the hands of certain kinds of state enemies!

What Should India Do?

On the positive side ewaste contains many valuable materials like rare metals, which are well worth recovering, provided one uses green technologies. Just as green power entered electricity generation as a business, ewaste disposal can be a business: this has been demonstrated by companies like Attero. The threat of generating ewaste should not diminish our national ambitions in digitising the country and e-enabling the citizens.

Along with digitalisation plans, our nation needs a matching ewaste plan to contain the e-mess, an advance type of planning rather than a post-facto approach. The first big step is to recognise that the ewaste monster is being created right now.

Additional research by Alka Upadhyay, Tata Sons.
READ MORE:
United Nations|Sunday ET|R Gopalakrishnan|Henry Ford|Gold|ewaste|Digital India