The Honourable Minister for Communications & Information Technology of India, the GSMA, the Cellular Operators of India (COAI) and the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced today that they will work together to help facilitate growth of Mobile Broadband services across India. Shri Kapil Sibal, the Honourable Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Rob Conway, CEO, GSMA, Sanjay Kapoor, Chairman, COAI and CEO, Bharti Airtel India & South Asia and Dr. J. S. Sarma, Chairman, TRAI outlined this collaboration during the ‘Mobile Broadband – India Empowering the Mobile Ecosystem’ seminar which took place at the Imperial Hotel in New Delhi today.

The growth of mobile communications in India is the result of a successful partnership between the Indian government, the regulator and the mobile community. This news demonstrates the shared commitment by all parties to address the need for nationwide broadband connectivity. The seminar focused on how Mobile Broadband, delivered using next-generation LTE technology, can help connect all citizens across urban and rural areas, to the Internet. This will further stimulate the Indian economy and provide people, especially those in rural communities, with access to online information, improving health, education and employment prospects, as well as providing access to financial and government services.

Shri Kapil Sibal stated: “India has always been a global leader in information technology, providing the world with much needed leadership and direction in IT and research and development. However, it is time to bring the Internet revolution to our rural communities and I believe Mobile Broadband will play a significant role in achieving this. The Indian government understands the need for wireless broadband connectivity and is working towards making adequate spectrum available to support these services.”

Rob Conway, CEO, GSMA commented: “Mobile Broadband has transformed the reach of the Internet, with more than 450 million connections across the globe. Through sufficient spectrum allocation, India can become a leader in the provision of Mobile Broadband and take advantage of the huge economic benefits, which could generate more than INR 3,146 billion to India’s GDP by 2020. We fully support the Indian government in its efforts to connect all its citizens to the Internet and look forward to the early release of spectrum in both the 700MHz and 2.6GHz bands in line with international efforts.”