Digital India: The four pillars of 5G Era listed out by PM Modi

New Delhi, Oct 01: India today stepped in the world of new technological era with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the 5G services at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi today. The Prime Minister, who also inaugurated the sixth edition of the India Mobile Congress, said today marks the dawn of a new era for the country and is a historic day.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said that today's summit might be global, but its repercussions and directions are local. "5G marks the dawn of a new era and presents a sea of opportunities."

PM Modi said,''While the nation was dependent on foreign countries for technology for 2G, 3G and 4G telecom services, India has created history with 5G.''.

Focussing on the need for a holistic approach to Digital India, the Prime Minister said his government's vision for 'Digital India' was founded on four pillars, in four directions at once. First, the price of the device, Second, digital connectivity, Third, the cost of data, Fourth, and most importantly, the idea of 'digital first' .

Regarding the first pillar, the Prime Minister said that the low cost of devices can only be achieved through Aatmnirbharta. The Prime Minister recalled that there were only two mobile manufacturing units in India till eight years ago. "These numbers have now gone up to 200", Shri Modi said. The Prime Minister underlined that from exporting zero mobile phones in 2014, today we have become a mobile phone exporting country worth thousands of crores. "Naturally, all these efforts have had an impact on the cost of the device. Now we have started getting more features at a lower cost", he added.

On the second pillar of digital connectivity, the Prime Minister informed that internet users have increased to 80 crores from 6 crores in 2014. From less than 100 panchayats in 2014 now 1.7 lakh panchayats are connected by optical fiber. "Just as the government started a door-to-door campaign to provide electricity, worked on the mission of providing clean water to everyone through the Har Ghar Jal Abhiyan, and delivered gas cylinders to the poorest of the poorest people through the Ujjwala scheme, our Government is working in a similar manner on the goal of Internet for all", he said.

Regarding the third pillar, the cost of data, the Prime Minister said that the industry was given a slew of incentives and technologies like 4G received policy support. This brought down the price of data and a data revolution was ushered in the country. These three pillars started showing their multiplier effect everywhere, he said.

On the topic of the fourth pillar i.e. Idea of 'Digital First', the Prime Minister recalled the time when a handful of the elite class questioned if the poor would even understand the meaning of digital and doubted their potential, the Prime Minister said that he always had faith in the understanding, wisdom and inquisitive mind of the common man of the country. He said that he always found the poor of the country ready to adopt new technologies.