TRAI organises workshop on vision for socio-economic transformation in Northeast

In order to understand and overcome the issues & challenges in bringing transformational technology in all states of the Northeast Region, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) organized a Workshop on “Vision for Socio-economic Transformation in NE States – Role of 5G Technologies and Digital Infrastructure” at Guwahati.

The Workshop was inaugurated by Dr. P. D. Vaghela, IAS, Chairperson, TRAI. While delivering his keynote address Dr. Vaghela said that 5G technology will enable India to achieve the digital empowerment goal and improve the well-being of the people. He said that 5G technology would offer significant improvements in network performance and likely to transform industries and society, putting the country on an unprecedented growth trajectory. 5G would have a massive impact on various industries and on the overall economy, he added.

Dr. Vaghela highlighted how the stakeholders can coperate for expediting infrastructure rollout for 5G deployment considering the issues & challenges in the NE states. He said that the main focus of the government is to provide internet and digital access to everyone including underserved people to ensure that every section of society gets connectivity at any cost.

Talking about the need of adopting new digital technology for social and economic development Dr. Vaghela said that digitalisation of the economy and also social life is of utmost importance in today’s world. Emphasizing the need for digital literacy and digital infrastructure, Mr. Vaghela said that the development of digital infrastructure and connectivity to every household is a must and this is the only way a common citizen becomes able to explore the opportunities available in the economy.

Talking about the Digital India programme Dr. Vaghela said that India has considered technology as the key element for two things, one for rapid economic growth and second for social and digital inclusion. Digital India programme has helped a lot in expanding the use of technology and the Digital India profile has seen a huge change in various sectors, he added. He informed that India is the second largest telecom market in the world now with 117 crore telecom subscribers and 825 million broadband subscribers.

The inaugural session was also graced by the presence of Shri V Raghunandan, ITS, Secretary, TRAI and Shri Anurag Goel, IAS, Principal Secretary(IT), Assam.

Anurag Goel in his address said that North East including Assam is developing in various fields in the last few years at a fast pace. Assam is always ready to support all the initiatives taken by the government of India and will definitely march forward with other states in the country, he said. He further said that Assam has made progress in many sectors in the last 7-8 years and always be partners in this development process.

Different stakeholders like Senior Officers of IT Departments & Rural and Urban Development Department (RUDD) and Departments dealing with Power and Electricity of all Northeastern states.

Department of Health, Agriculture, Education, Directors/DDGs posted in respective NE states of DoT Assam & Notth East LSA, representatives of COAI/DIPA/IPs/TSPs, BSNL, PGCIL, Railtel, MSOs/LCOs, etc, from all states of NE Region took part in the workshop to discuss and suggest possible measures to overcome the issues. Representatives of Departments of Information Technology, Rural and Urban Development, Power and Electricity, Education, Health and Agriculture attended the workshop and interacted with different stakeholders so that the rollout of required infrastructure for 5G and advanced telecom services is expedited, and all sections of the population get the benefit of the 5G technology simultaneously.

The deliberations in the workshop were divided in three sessions. The first session focused on Emerging technologies, Digital Infrastructure and Socio-economic development. In this session, speakers spoke on various topics like possible use cases in NE region, 5G deployment, etc. In another session infrastructure challenges in expediting 5G deployment were discussed. A panel discussion on Stake Holders’ role in the infrastructure development in NE States was also held at the end of workshop. NE India Broadcast