Stressing the need to push the Digital India project, V.K. Saraswat, member, NITI Aayog, who is a former Director-General of Defence Research & Development Organisation, said here on Wednesday that a “stable regulatory environment and presence of favourable conditions” were needed to attract private investors to build Internet infrastructure in remote places in the country.
The regulatory policy should be “an enabler” and not an obstacle for investments, he said while delivering the 34th convocation address of Mangalore University at Mangalagangotri.
“A predictable regulatory environment that protects existing investments while creating room for new ones is important,” he said.
One way to minimise the cost of network development was to give access to land and buildings for mobile networks in an “expeditious and transparent and coordinated manner,” he said.
Stating that the selection of frequency bands and coverage obligations could affect the cost and investments of telecom operators, Mr. Saraswat said that the use of low-frequency bands would help lower the cost. Another way to reduce the cost through spectrum assignment was to include rural coverage requirements in new spectrum licences. This might justify lower licence fee, he said.
Speaking on the challenges related to hardware for creating an inclusive digital society, he said that the presence of low-power hardware with long battery life was crucial in an environment of erratic power supply.
The university presented honorary doctorate to novelist S.L. Bhyrappa, cardiologist C.N. Manjunath and chairman of A.J. Group of Institutions A.J. Shetty. Minister for Higher Education and Pro-Chancellor of the university T.B. Jayachandra presented them.
Ambika, a student of Government First Grade College and PG Centre, Thenkanidiyur, Udupi bagged the Dharmasthala Rathnavarma Heggade memorial gold medal in MA (Kannada) and five cash awards. Now she works at Milagres College, Kallianpur.
Chaitra, who pursued M.A. in History from Dr. G. Shankar Government First Grade College, Ajjarkad, in Udupi bagged the late Dr. Gururaja Bhat gold medal, and Late Dr Paduru Gururaja Bhat memorial gold medal. She also took home five cash awards. Now she pursues a computer course in Udupi.
