This is not just India’s decade, it is the century of India: PM Modi on 5G launch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 5G telecom services at the sixth edition of Indian Mobile Congress (IMC 2022) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on October 1. Ushering in an era of ultra high speed internet on mobile phones, this service will be launched in select cities today and will cover the rest of the country over the next couple of years.

In a use case of this 5G services, the prime minister interacted with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Saxena, who was present inside a DMRC tunnel, still under construction. Modi spoke to workers inside the tunnel and enquired whether the technology helped them speed up the process. “The most important thing is the trust of the workers, they should feel safe," he said.

Moving on with the list of multiple uses of the technology, Modi interacted with a hologram of a student at Pragati Maidan. “I am happy that school children from rural parts of India are part of this rollout,” he said. “I have felt how new technologies are changing the meaning of education for these students. They are interacting with eminent scientists from their classroom, it is an exciting experience.”

He mentioned that India will not only be a consumer of technology, but also play an active role in the development and implementation of technology. He aims to focus on four pillars of success - cost of the device, digital connectivity, cost of data, and the Digital First mindset. “When we talk about the cost of the device, it can only be affordable when we are Atmanirbhar," he said.