The maiden India Mobile Congress (IMC) kicked off at Delhi's Pragati Maidan with Minister of State (Independent Charge) Communications, Manoj Sinha, inaugurating it on Wednesday.
Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan and top executives from the telecom industry converged at the programme, which is envisioned as a platform to make India a strong definitive voice in global communication forum.
Here are the views made by key people at the three-day event:
Minister Manoj Sinha:
“We are proud to say that our country is now hosting its own first-ever mobile, Internet and technology event — The India Mobile Congress. We are hopeful that this will be a huge platform for mobile and internet technology sector in the sub-continent.
"India is currently the second largest telecom market in the world with 1.2 billion consumers. Investment in the sector has increased 220 per cent in the last four years. Telecom creates four million direct and indirect jobs.
"Connecting the next billion Indians to the worldwide web is the single biggest opportunity in India. The word is digital, becoming synonymous with every aspect of our daily life.
"For India, 5G provides an opportunity for the industry to reach out to the global market. India has constituted a high level 5G forum."
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology:
"We don't want to miss the digital revolution. We have decided to finalise a new IT policy, a new e-Commerce policy and a new IoT policy very soon.''
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship:
"It's difficult for me to turn down Manoj Sinha's request. Frankly, I have been wondering what IMC has to do with me. A KPMG report says that 50 lakh youngsters could get jobs in IT and telecom, so I thought maybe I have been called in because of my new portfolio, skill development and entrepreneurship."
"Today, because of the healthy competition between Mr. Mittal and Mr. Ambani, we are getting free talk time. As they say, data is the new oil. From a distance, I can see the dynamic impact of telecom in India over the past two decades.
"Similarly, the Prime Minister has linked oil prices to global markets. It is causing some pain now, and the States are asking for central excise duty to be cut, but why don't they cut their own State taxes then? After China, India is the No. 3 energy consumer in the world. This is the volume of oil, gas and LPG, I mean.
"Two days ago, the Prime Minister launched the ambitious Saubhagya scheme. We have decided to allow all petroleum products for e-commerce. We had said doorstep delivery would be possible. Our Prime Minister had asked in a recent Cabinet meeting if technology is a department or a lifestyle. We would like it to be more than a department."
Sunil Bharti Vittal, Bharti Enterprises chairman:
"In each of Google's products, I am delighted to note that India is a key factor. I spent some time with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. In my one hour conversation, I sensed that India is fuelling the company's future. India will emerge as one of leading telecom markets in the world, but industry alone won't be able to do it. Government policies will decide how fast the country moves forward.
"While investments in hard physical infrastructure take time to materialise, it is the digital platform that the government has rightfully pitched as a key transformer for India. I would like to urge the ministers to help us. For instance, government buildings have been opened up for telecom towers but in reality, it is still a slow process. We need to get local governments and municipalities on the same page with the digital India vision.
"The industry will invest ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 crore this year, and government policies can help speed that up. We will stay ahead of the curve. India will no longer be behind the curve on technology. As 5G develops globally, we are keeping a close watch. From autonomous cars, to flying cars...these are not sci-fi imaginations anymore.
"I am reminded of a Williams Wordsworth-poem after the French revolution. I wish I was 25-30 years to see what happens over the next 40 years."
Satish Mahana, Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Minister:
"We have the capacity and capability to provide big industrial infrastructure. We have come up with a new industrial policy that is being appreciated. We are sure our administrative system will be transparent as well as accountable. All grievances will be addressed under one roof."
Vittorio Colao, Vodafone group CEO:
"Digital is becoming a way of life and people want high-speed connectivity at home, work and other place."
Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries chairman:
"Today is a proud day for all of us. The pace at which Indian mobile industry has grown is unparallelled in the world. In the next 10 years, the Indian economy will grow from $2.5 trillion to $7 trillion.
"The nation missed out on the first three industrial revolutions. The fourth, which is enabled by connectivity, data and artificial intelligence (AI), has begun and India is well poised to take part in this. Data is the new oil and India does not need to import it.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of the Reliance Industries, speaks at the India Mobile Congress 2017
"As an industry, we have an urgent task to empower 1.3 billion Indians to access these new opportunities. At the same time, we have to ensure that every Indian has access to an affordable smartphone. Young Indians are bustling with ideas — if we give them the right tools, they can come up with a million startups. I believe 4G coverage will become larger than 2G over the next 12 months.
"To realise our beloved Prime Minister's aspirations, we have to be the change we wish to see. No single corporate or government can do it alone. Together, we can create a better quality of life for every Indian. Today, we are an unstoppable nation. God bless our nation as it journeys into a glorious and exciting future!"
Rajan Anandan, Google vice president for SouthEast Asia and India:
"India has 400 million Internet users, of which 300 million use smartphones to access to the net. About 200 million do so everyday. Nearly 48% of airline tickets in India are bought online and 50 million Indians have access to online educational content. We believe that 500 million Indians will have access to Internet every day by 2020. Our mission in India is Internet for everyone. We have provided 150 railways stations with high-speed Wi-Fi.
"Today, India is the only country where a bank account can be opened in minutes. At Google, we believe that the biggest companies in the world are built by addressing the biggest problems faced by people."
Mathew Oommen, president - network, global strategy and service development, Reliance Jio Infocomm:
"When we think about the transformation in India, with Aadhaar, UPI and GST - this is the new enabled digital ecosystem."
Binny Bansal, Flipkart CEO:
"We hope to reach 500 million e-commerce customers across the country by 2020."
Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel CEO and MD:
"Over last two years, we have invested more than what we have in the last 20 years. The network has more than doubled and will double again. The sector needs massive investments over the coming years to keep pace with the latest technology. The government could help the industry by improving the ease of doing business. The mergers and acquisitions policy is slow and leaves much to be desired. The government must also examine the financial situation of the sector — taxation is very high and cost of spectrum is highest in the world, but the tariffs are the lowest."
Sunil Sood, Vodafone India CEO and MD:
"The future success of the country is highly dependent on the future of the telecom industry."
Himanshu Kapania, MD, Idea Cellular:
"I hope the India Mobile Congress will be an annual event, and not just an Indian event, but a pan-Asia one in the league of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
"With an investment of ₹7.5 lakh crore in voice connectivity alone, the Indian telecom industry has moved from 200 million users seven years ago to one billion users today. The elephant in the room is that no industry can survive with mobile voice tariffs halving within a year and data tariffs falling so sharply. This is causing financial and mental stress in the sector which has already seen a 2% de-growth last year. This means that the revenue to the government would suffer too. Hopefully, 4G would yield ₹175 to ₹200 average revenue per user, compared to less than ₹100 that it yields currently.
"The government has to decide if it wants more telecom technologies to proliferate or just one. The TRAI's recent decision (on IUC charges being reduced now and scrapped from 2020) is pushing the industry to just one option. The telecom ministry needs to intervene urgently. Unless you acknowledge the high-cost spectrum, we will never be able to move forward. I am hopeful that many operators would be able to offer 4G services pan-India at reasonable tariffs."
Aruna Sundararajan , Telecom Secretary:
"We need to ensure that over three to four years, the use of mobile phones would help deliver quality healthcare and education services, apart from banking. We want to connect the unconnected and serve those who haven't been served to make sure the mobile technology helps many beyond the 100 million urban users with the latest devices.
"The IMC promises to be the platform that signals to the world that India is not only key to the global telecom sector, but is leading the way.
"We have much to share with the world. As acknowledged by Satya Nadella, the Jam trinity with apps like UPI, India is already pioneering the creation of a new digital ecosystem for the world."
