Digital India - Connecting People, Places and Things

As we celebrate World Telecommunication Day on May 17, a quick review of the sector from a services point of view reflects that the advent of mobile services and the resulted benefits derived is a widely known fact. These benefits were further extended under the purview of the Digital India initiative. As Digital India proved, a complementing positive impact was the supporting connectivity network that proliferated to ensure wide reach of the initiative.

Thus when one looks back now at the rapid journey of Digital India, it emerges that the connectivity and inclusiveness brought about has indeed improved the lives of many of us. Evident positive impact have been observed in the fields of education and healthcare to name a few. Businesses too have benefited with increased reach to end-users and also are able to clearly communicate their value proposition.

Thus the new age connectivity under the aegis of Digital India has given rise to affordable quality encompassing the critical outreach involving people, places and things in India. While these deployments are still in their early stages, they are already showing the transformative power of connecting people to the world.

Another benefit arising out of the success of Digital India is the contribution in eliminating the earlier held disparity between rural India and urban parts of the country. There is a distinct improvement in quality of life ushered in by advanced connectivity. The phrase ‘Fabric of society’ has taken a literal meaning with wireless fabric based connectivity enabling the online experience for the country.

This success of this wireless fabric in India stands out as a global success story overcoming multiple challenges such as huge population, vast country, varied terrain, desert mountains, river valleys, coastal regions and rural areas. And this success in turn is fueled by the advancements made in the field of wireless fabric technology in terms of enhanced robustness as well as best-in-class capabilities to deliver a solution that can fulfill the demands of businesses and residents. This technology must be resilient and of high quality to deal with long distances, different standards and RF noise conditions. It also must be able to provide optimum end-user experience for content such as video, rich multimedia applications, education, teleconferencing or business connectivity.

India is well set to further advance in its position as one of the top and critical markets for mobility services beyond the conventional voice services. The onus now is on value chain partners to rise to the occasion and ensure the best of user experiences to transform last mile connectivity across the entire network.

Rajiv Kapoor
Vice President, India & SAARC, Cambium Networks