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Investments in Broadband fundamental to achieving Government’s Vision of Digital India

Investments in Broadband will be fundamental to achieving the Government’s Vision of Digital India was the key message at the ‘India: Broadband for All’ seminar organized by Ericsson and COAI in New Delhi on December 18. Investments in broadband need to be encouraged and facilitated in India so that the benefits of broadband to business and society can be ensured.
Press release
Dec 12, 2014

Investments in Broadband will be fundamental to achieving the Government’s Vision of Digital India was the Key Message at the ‘India : Broadband for All’ seminar organized by Ericsson and COAI at New Delhi today . Investments in broadband need to be encouraged and facilitated in India so that the benefits of broadband to business and society can be ensured. "Mobile Broadband will be the platform on which the ‘Digital India’ vision can be delivered. Wide deployment, availability and affordability of broadband will enable the country to bridge the digital divide and facilitate economic growth." stated Mr Chris Houghton, Head of Region India, Ericsson during the inaugural session attended by regulators, government and industry representatives as well as media.

"The Broadband infrastructure in the country needs to be expanded to offer superior coverage, quality and capacity." said Mr Houghton. To fulfill the Indian government’s vision for broadband inspired growth, operators will need access to more spectrum and will need to invest in new network capabilities. "Further, given that we see the Networked Society taking shape in India as it is in other parts of the world, India needs to prepare and take a more proactive approach on 5G which is expected to be commercialized by 2020." stated Mr Houghton .

"The policy framework must ensure that operators are encouraged and have business case to invest in the networks so that services like commerce, banking, education, health and entertainment can be reliably delivered to large masses of India." stated Mr. Rajan Mathews, Director General, COAI.

Speaking on the role of Governments in ensuring a policy framework that facilitates more efficient broadband deployments , stated Mr. Ulf Pehrsson, Global Head – Government & Industry Relations, Ericsson "Even as a policy of minimal regulations is encouraged to ensure innovation, consistency in policy is a necessary building block to encourage investment by operators. Some of the global best practices that India could consider for implementation could be harmonized global spectrum: wide, contiguous and in both low and high frequency bands ; Fair and non-discriminating regulation ; Network cooperation on commercial rather than regulated terms; Neither service nor technology-specific network licenses and Next Generation regulations (Cloud, NFV, SDN, 5G) based on appropriate future-proof market segmentation."

Digitalization is transforming industries and changing consumer habits. Mobile broadband has become a platform for innovation which is creating new revenue streams. To achieve high level of broadband penetration and deliver the benefits of digitalization, additional spectrum would need to be made available in India. It is the basic resource required for building efficient networks able to serve large numbers of subscribers generating large amounts of traffic. India must think long term in terms of laying out its National broadband policy so that supply side constraints are managed in such a manner that 600 Million broadband subscribers can be serviced by the Year 2020.

Even as Network convergence is happening – fixed and mobile are becoming one full service broadband network and the Networked Society is becoming a reality. Widespread internet connectivity is driving change for individuals and enabling innovation and business transformation. A holistic approach and long term approach is needed for the regulatory framework.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society – a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, businesses and societies to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.

Our services, software and infrastructure – especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud – are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.

With more than 110,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world’s mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions – and our customers – stay in front.

Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in 2013 were SEK 227.4 billion (USD 34.9 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.

For further information, please contact

Gaurav Sharma
Phone: +91 98 718 233 39
E-mail: gaurav.z.sharma@ericsson.com