Mukesh Ambani Says 4G Coverage Will Surpass 2G In A Year
Data is the oxygen of a digital economy, says Mukesh Ambani at India Mobile Congress.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who shook up the telecom sector with his free voice calling and cheap data plans, said that 4G telecom coverage in India will surpass that of 2G in a year.
“4G coverage in India will become larger than the 2G coverage within the next 12 months,” Ambani asserted while addressing the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi.
The Reliance Industries chairman is optimistic that India, riding on the back of a digital revolution, will grow to a $7-trillion economy in the next 10 years, from $2.5 trillion, and rank among the top three economies in the world.
Data is the oxygen of a digital economy. We cannot deprive Indians of this vital life-sustaining resource. We have to provide ubiquitous access to high-speed data at affordable prices.Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries
It has to be ensured every Indian has access to an affordable smartphone that connects him to “limitless knowledge and the power of the Internet”, Ambani said.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., his telecom upstart that has captured more than 128 million users within a year of launch, will rollout a basic 4G phone that will be available to its users on making a refundable deposit of Rs 1,500. The Indian mobile market, Ambani said, is now overflowing with data and a robust digital circulatory system has to be created to carry data to the 1.3 billion Indians.
India has leapfrogged from a lowly 155th in mobile broadband penetration to being the world's largest mobile data consuming nation in just one year, according to Ambani. He attributes this jump largely to launch of Reliance Jio which during the promotional phase offered unlimited free data and after that at a dirt cheap price.
India had missed out on the first three global industrial revolutions of mechanisation, mass production and automation, Ambani said, but has the opportunity to lead in the fourth industrial revolution fueled by connectivity, data and artificial intelligence.
"Mobile Internet and cloud computing are the foundational technologies in the fourth industrial revolution," he said.
Data is the new oil. India does not need to import it. We have it in super-abundance. It will be a new source of value and will create opportunities and prosperity for India and millions of Indians.Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries
The country's richest man pressed for using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Big Data analytics, 3-D printing, blockchain and nanotechnology to create jobs and a new wave of wealth. Digital technologies, he said, can be a boon for achieving national priorities of energy, water and resource security.
