Net neutrality to aid Digital India drive: DoT

NEW DELHI: After telecom and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad backed an open internet three days ago, a note prepared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for a meeting of the committee on net neutrality said the concept may help the government's Digital India programme and ensure equitable and inclusive development.
The meeting, held on Friday, was the second since the panel was set up with officials from the Licensing and Finance Wing of DoT as well as the home ministry and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to study the matter and submit a report to the government by the second week of May.
The background note circulated for the meeting shows DoT is batting for net neutrality given the poor internet coverage in India.
READ ALSO: What is net neutrality and why it is important?
"India has the third highest number of internet users in the world, but internet penetration is the lowest compared to the top 10 countries (having the highest internet users.) India also figures in the group of 42 world's least connected countries," the note said.
"As per a World Bank report, access to affordable, high quality internet and mobile phone services enables development across all levels of economy and society. The report finds that for every 10 percentage point increase in high speed internet connections, there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points," the department noted.
One of the key drivers of the growth in startup ventures was the openness of the internet, which offered a level playing field, it said.
READ ALSO: What is net neutrality and why it is important?
According to the note, the Digital India programme envisages high-speed internet as a "core utility" and the National Telecom Policy 2012 envisions providing affordable and reliable broadband on demand by 2015 and 175 million broadband connections by 2017.
"The government envisages leveraging telecom infrastructure to enable a Web economy, thereby ensuring equitable and inclusive development across the nation, by enhancing affordability (and) increased access and delivery of multiple services at reduced cost," the note read.
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