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146-459: The Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal ( TDSAT ) was established to adjudicate disputes and dispose of appeals with a view to protect the interests of service providers and consumers of the Indian telecommunications sector and to promote and ensure its orderly growth. The policy of liberalisation that was embarked by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in the 1990s helped

292-400: A next-generation network , increasingly employing an extensive array of modern network infrastructure such as digital telephone exchanges , network switching subsystems , media gateways and signaling gateways at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using optical fiber or microwave radio relay networks. The access network , which connects the subscriber to

438-425: A quadriplegia disability or having a disability in the hands. However, there is still a lack of access to technology and home Internet access among those who have a cognitive and auditory disability as well. There is a concern of whether or not the increase in the use of information technologies will increase equality through offering opportunities for individuals living with disabilities or whether it will only add to

584-539: A Chairperson and two Members. The current composition of the Tribunal is: List of former Chairmen of TDSAT: List of former Members of TDSAT: Telecommunications in India India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phones) with over 1.19 billion subscribers as of September 2024. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in

730-513: A UK non-profit organisation, collates data on the extent and impact of the digital divide in the UK and lobbies the government to fix digital exclusion Research from 2001 showed that the digital divide is more than just an access issue and cannot be alleviated merely by providing the necessary equipment. There are at least three factors at play: information accessibility, information utilization, and information receptiveness. More than just accessibility,

876-754: A cheap replacement for a babysitter, and their government-run schools encourage screen time during school. Students in school are also learning about the digital divide. To reduce the impact of the digital divide and increase digital literacy in young people at an early age, governments have begun to develop and focus policy on embedding digital literacies in both student and educator programs, for instance, in Initial Teacher Training programs in Scotland. The National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education

1022-619: A combination (such as Infostate , proposed by Orbicom-UNESCO , the Digital Opportunity Index , or ITU 's ICT Development Index ). During the mid-1990s, the United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) began publishing reports about the Internet and access to and usage of the resource. The first of three reports is titled "Falling Through

1168-490: A computer (43%). Furthermore, the more significant part of lower-income Americans does not own a tablet device. On the other hand, every technology is practically universal among people earning $ 100,000 or higher per year. Americans with larger family incomes are also more likely to buy a variety of internet-connected products. Wi-Fi at home, a smartphone, a computer, and a tablet are used by around six out of ten families making $ 100,000 or more per year, compared to 23 percent in

1314-571: A connection may be so slow as to be virtually unusable, solely because a network provider has limited infrastructure in the area. For example, to download 5 GB of data in Taiwan it might take about 8 minutes, while the same download might take 30 hours in Yemen. From 2020 to 2022, average download speeds in the EU climbed from 70 Mbps to more than 120 Mbps, owing mostly to the demand for digital services during

1460-662: A consultant and adviser in the development of telecommunication in India. In 1985, the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from Indian Post & Telecommunication Department. DoT was responsible for telecom services in entire country until 1986 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) were carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of metro cities ( Delhi and Mumbai ) and international long-distance operations respectively. The demand for telephones continued to increase and in

1606-409: A difference between ratings that candidates received for software developer jobs as well as other technical jobs. As a result, it was revealed that Amazon's machine algorithm was biased against women and favored male resumes over female resumes. This was due to the fact that Amazon's computer models were trained to vet patterns in resumes over a 10-year period. During this ten-year period, the majority of

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1752-421: A disadvantage, only 49% of White adults do. Smartphone and tablet ownership remains consistent with about 8 out of 10 Black, White, and Hispanic individuals reporting owning a smartphone and half owning a tablet. A 2021 survey found that a quarter of Hispanics rely on their smartphone and do not have access to broadband. Inequities in access to information technologies are present among individuals living with

1898-431: A large portion of them are women. Also, the governments of different countries have different policies about privacy, data governance, speech freedoms and many other factors. Government restrictions make it challenging for technology companies to provide services in certain countries. This disproportionately impacts the different regions of the world; Europe has the highest percentage of the population online while Africa has

2044-703: A licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Kolkata , Mumbai , Chennai and Ahmedabad and the first formal telephone service was established in the country. On 28 January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India 's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named

2190-630: A mobile penetration of 168.4 followed by Kollam 143.2 and Kochi 141.7. Market share of broadband (wired + wireless) services in India as of 31 December 2023 according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Public, commercial Internet access in India was launched by Tata Communications (VSNL) on 15 August 1995, though access was available via the Educational Research Network (ERNET) to educational institutions as early as 1986. VSNL

2336-402: A mortgage digitally. In data from World Bank Findex, 40% of people younger than 40 years old utilized fintech compared to less than 25% of people aged 60 years or older. The divide between differing countries or regions of the world is referred to as the global digital divide , which examines the technological gap between developing and developed countries. The divide within countries (such as

2482-495: A physical disability in comparison to those who are not living with a disability. In 2011, according to the Pew Research Center, 54% of households with a person who had a disability had home Internet access, compared to 81% of households that did not have a person who has a disability. The type of disability an individual has can prevent them from interacting with computer screens and smartphone screens, such as having

2628-639: A result of debt and a failed merger with Aircel . Surprisingly, the shut down was shortly after completion of acquisition of MTS India on 31 October 2017. In February 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy as it was unable to sell assets to repay its debt. It has an estimated debt of ₹ 57,383 crore against assets worth ₹18,000 crore. Aircel shut down its operations in unprofitable circles including, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West) from 30 January 2018. Aircel along with its units - Aircel Cellular and Dishnet Wireless - on 1 March 2018, filed for bankruptcy in

2774-577: A result, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established on 20 February 1997 by an act of parliament called "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997". The mission of TRAI was to create and nurture an environment which will enable quick growth of the telecommunication sector in the country. One of the major objective of TRAI is to provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability. In 2000,

2920-566: A safety net for those who were harmed by new forms of production. Later when telegraph and postal systems evolved, many used Rousseau's ideas to argue for full access to those services, even if it meant subsidizing hard-to-serve citizens. Thus, " universal services " referred to innovations in regulation and taxation that would allow phone services such as AT&T in the United States to serve hard-to-serve rural users. In 1996, as telecommunications companies merged with Internet companies,

3066-469: A score of 0.65 while upper-middle income and high income regions have a score of 0.99. The difference between economic classes has been a prevalent issue with the digital divide up to this point. People who are considered to earn low income use the internet at a 26% rate followed by lower-middle income at 56%, upper-middle income at 79%, and high income at 92%. The staggering difference between low income individuals and high income individuals can be traced to

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3212-454: A study found that the majority of women who owned mobile phones only knew how to answer calls. They could not dial numbers or read messages without assistance from their husbands, due to a lack of literacy and numeracy skills. A survey of 3,000 respondents across 25 countries found that adolescent boys with mobile phones used them for a wider range of activities, such as playing games and accessing financial services online. Adolescent girls in

3358-530: A survey of people in the UK with severe mental illness found that 42% lacked basic digital skills, such as changing passwords or connecting to Wi-Fi. People with disabilities are also the targets of online abuse. Online disability hate crimes have increased by 33% across the UK between 2016–17 and 2017–18 according to a report published by Leonard Cheshire , a health and welfare charity. Accounts of online hate abuse towards people with disabilities were shared during an incident in 2019 when model Katie Price 's son

3504-735: Is 91. Several international fibre-optic links include those to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany. Some major telecom operators in India include the privately owned companies like Vi, Airtel, and Reliance Jio and the state-owned companies - BSNL and MTNL. Before the New Telecom Policy was announced in 1999, only the Government-owned BSNL and MTNL were allowed to provide land-line phone services through Copper conductor in India with MTNL operating in Delhi and Mumbai and BSNL servicing all other areas of

3650-466: Is apparent in tech usage, with men more likely to be competent tech users. Controlled statistical analysis has shown that income, education and employment act as confounding variables and that women with the same level of income, education and employment actually embrace ICT more than men (see Women and ICT4D), this argues against any suggestion that women are "naturally" more technophobic or less tech-savvy. However, each nation has its own set of causes or

3796-595: Is between producers and consumers of Internet content, which could be a result of educational disparities. While social media use varies across age groups, a US 2010 study reported no racial divide. The historical roots of the digital divide in America refer to the increasing gap that occurred during the early modern period between those who could and could not access the real time forms of calculation, decision-making, and visualization offered via written and printed media. Within this context, ethical discussions regarding

3942-523: Is designed to be receptive to men instead of women. Overall, the study presents the problem of various perspectives in society that are a result of gendered socialization patterns that believe that computers are a part of the male experience since computers have traditionally presented as a toy for boys when they are children. This divide is followed as children grow older and young girls are not encouraged as much to pursue degrees in IT and computer science. In 1990,

4088-513: Is difficult for developing countries to keep up with the constant changes. In 2014 only three countries ( China , US , Japan ) host 50% of the globally installed bandwidth potential. This concentration is not new, as historically only ten countries have hosted 70–75% of the global telecommunication capacity (see Figure). The U.S. lost its global leadership in terms of installed bandwidth in 2011, replaced by China, who hosted more than twice as much national bandwidth potential in 2014 (29% versus 13% of

4234-448: Is examined, others must be controlled to eliminate interaction effects or mediating variables , but these explanations are meant to stand as general trends, not direct causes. Measurements for the intensity of usages, such as incidence and frequency, vary by study. Some report usage as access to Internet and ICTs while others report usage as having previously connected to the Internet. Some studies focus on specific technologies, others on

4380-401: Is in the distant 4th position, with an approximate market share of 11% Market share of Wireless Mobile operators in India as of 31 December 2023 according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Market share of fixed-line telecom operators in India as of 30 June 2023 according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Private-sector and two state-run businesses dominate

4526-500: Is increasingly seen as a foreseen necessity for every country. With better technology and more competition from established businesses, telecommunications has entered a new era of development. The continuous rise of the mobile industry is linked to technological advancements in the telecommunications sector. The service providers' primary goal is to build a loyal customer base by measuring their performance and maintaining existing consumers in order to profit from their loyalty. The purpose of

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4672-421: Is one of the lowest in the world and only accounts for 35% of the population compared to the global average internet penetration is over 54.4%. Another issue is the digital divide where growth is biased in favour of urban areas; according to December 2017 statistics, the internet penetration in urban India was 64.84%, whereas the internet penetration in rural India was only 20.26%. Regulators have tried to boost

4818-626: Is provided by both public and private companies using a variety of technologies and media including dial-up (PSTN), xDSL, coaxial cable, Ethernet, FTTH, ISDN, HSDPA (3G), 4G, WiFi, WiMAX, etc. at a wide range of speeds and costs. According to the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the Internet user base in the country stood at 190 million at the end of June 2013, rosing to 378.10 million in January 2018. Cumulative Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of broadband during

4964-557: Is the Asia-Pacific region at 64%. Internet access remains a problem in Least Developing Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries. They both have 36% of people using the internet compared to a 66% average around the world. Men generally have more access to the internet around the world. The gender parity score across the globe is 0.92. A gender parity score is calculated by the percentage of women who use

5110-502: The Federal Communications Commission adopted Telecommunications Services Act of 1996 to consider regulatory strategies and taxation policies to close the digital divide. Though the term "digital divide" was coined among consumer groups that sought to tax and regulate information and communications technology (ICeT) companies to close the digital divide, the topic soon moved onto a global stage. The focus

5256-545: The GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Vi , Airtel , Jio , and BSNL / MTNL . International Roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers. The government allowed Mobile number portability (MNP) which enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another. In 2014, Thiruvananthapuram became

5402-609: The Indian Telecom sector to grow rapidly. The government gradually allowed the entry of the private sectors into telecom equipment manufacturing , value added services , radio paging and cellular mobile services. In 1994, the government formed the National Telecom Policy (NTP) which helped to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and domestic investments. The entry of private and international players resulted in need of independent regulatory body. As

5548-785: The Vajpayee government constituted the Telecommunications Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) through an amendment of the 1997 act, through an ordinance. The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee, service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Moreover, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSAT. The TDSAT consists of

5694-406: The digital divide in the United States ) may refer to inequalities between individuals, households, businesses, or geographic areas, usually at different socioeconomic levels or other demographic categories. In contrast, the global digital divide describes disparities in access to computing and information resources, and the opportunities derived from such access. As the internet rapidly expands it

5840-537: The "Central Exchange" had a total of 93 subscribers in its early stage. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange. Development of Broadcasting: Radio broadcasting was initiated in 1927 but became state responsibility only in 1930. In 1937 it was given the name All India Radio and since 1957 it has been called Akashvani . Limited duration of television programming began in 1959, and complete broadcasting followed in 1965. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting owned and maintained

5986-530: The 1990s attracted private initiatives in this sector, and since then, satellite television has increasingly shaped popular culture and Indian society. However, still, only the government-owned Doordarshan has the licence for terrestrial television broadcast. Private companies reach the public using satellite channels; both cable television as well as DTH has obtained a wide subscriber base in India. In 2012, India had about 148 million TV homes of which 126 million has access to cable and satellite services. Following

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6132-597: The 1990s the Indian government was under mounting pressure to open up the telecom sector for private investment as a part of the Liberalisation - Privatisation - Globalisation policies that the government accepted to overcome the severe fiscal crisis and resultant balance of payments issue in 1991. Consequently, private investment in the sector of Value Added Services (VAS) was allowed and cellular telecom sector were opened up for competition from private investments. It

6278-917: The Center for American Progress, "if the United States were able to close the educational achievement gaps between native-born white children and black and Hispanic children, the U.S. economy would be 5.8 percent—or nearly $ 2.3 trillion—larger in 2050". In a reverse of this idea, well-off families, especially the tech-savvy parents in Silicon Valley , carefully limit their own children's screen time . The children of wealthy families attend play-based preschool programs that emphasize social interaction instead of time spent in front of computers or other digital devices, and they pay to send their children to schools that limit screen time. American families that cannot afford high-quality childcare options are more likely to use tablet computers filled with apps for children as

6424-630: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 75% of people aged 15–24 used the internet in 2022 compared to 65% of people aged 25 years or older. The highest amount of digital divide between generations occurs in Africa with 55% of the younger age group using the internet compared to 36% of people aged 25 years or older. The lowest amount of divide occurs between the Commonwealth of Independent States with 91% of

6570-425: The Internet address the physical mediums that people use to connect to the Internet such as desktop computers, laptops, basic mobile phones or smartphones , iPods or other MP3 players, gaming consoles such as Xbox or PlayStation , electronic book readers, and tablets such as iPads. Traditionally, the nature of the divide has been measured in terms of the existing numbers of subscriptions and digital devices. Given

6716-414: The Internet or in some cases, find a computer. Additionally, The Public Policy Institute of California reported in 2023 that 27% of the state’s school children lack the necessary broadband to attend school remotely, and 16% have no internet connection at all. This has led to a new revelation: 42% of students say they received a lower grade because of this disadvantage. According to research conducted by

6862-572: The Internet to look for a job. Studies show that despite strong performance in computer and information literacy (CIL), girls do not have confidence in their ICT abilities. According to the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) assessment girls' self-efficacy scores (their perceived as opposed to their actual abilities) for advanced ICT tasks were lower than boys'. A paper published by J. Cooper from Princeton University points out that learning technology

7008-551: The London-based telecom trade body GSMA , the telecom sector accounted for 6.5% of India's GDP in 2015, or about ₹ 9 lakh crore (US$ 110 billion), and supported direct employment for 2.2 million people in the country. GSMA estimates that the Indian telecom sector will contribute ₹ 14.5 lakh crore (US$ 170 billion) to the economy and support 3 million direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs by 2020. In today's period of progress and wealth, technological modernization

7154-548: The National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai due to huge competition and high levels of debt. Vodafone and Idea Cellular completed their merger on 31 August 2018, and the merged entity is renamed to Vi . The merger created the largest telecom company in India by subscribers and by revenue, and the second largest mobile network in terms of number of subscribers in the world. Under the terms of

7300-701: The Net: A Survey of the "Have Nots" in Rural and Urban America" (1995), the second is "Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide" (1998), and the final report "Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide" (1999). The NTIA's final report attempted clearly to define the term digital divide as "the divide between those with access to new technologies and those without". Since

7446-467: The Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016 which barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services. The 2016 Regulation, stipulates that: Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 by Doordarshan , a state-run medium of communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades. The policy reforms of the government in

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7592-517: The Supreme Court ruled on petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) represented by Prashant Bhushan , challenging the 2008 allotment of 2G licenses, cancelling all 122 spectrum licences granted during A. Raja ( Minister of Communications & IT from 2007 to 2009 ), the primary official accused's term as communications minister. and described

7738-474: The TRAI Act, 1997. The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee, service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Moreover, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSAT. The government corporatised

7884-474: The TRAI released a formal consultation paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services, seeking comments from the public. The consultation paper was criticised for being one sided and having confusing statements. It was condemned by various politicians and internet users. By 18 April 2015, over 800,000 emails had been sent to TRAI demanding net neutrality. The TRAI on 8 February 2016, notified

8030-631: The US. Once an individual is connected, Internet connectivity and ICTs can enhance his or her future social and cultural capital. Social capital is acquired through repeated interactions with other individuals or groups of individuals. Connecting to the Internet creates another set of means by which to achieve repeated interactions. ICTs and Internet connectivity enable repeated interactions through access to social networks, chat rooms, and gaming sites. Once an individual has access to connectivity, obtains infrastructure by which to connect, and can understand and use

8176-573: The actual number of United States Americans without high-speed internet is twice that number. According to a 2021 Pew Research Center report, smartphone ownership and internet use has increased for all Americans, however, a significant gap still exists between those with lower incomes and those with higher incomes: U.S. households earning $ 100K or more are twice as likely to own multiple devices and have home internet service as those making $ 30K or more, and three times as likely as those earning less than $ 30K per year. The same research indicated that 13% of

8322-452: The affordability of mobile products. Products are becoming more affordable as the years pass; according to the ITU, “the global median price of mobile-broadband services dropped from 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent of average gross national income (GNI) per capita.” There is still plenty of work to be done, as there is a 66% difference between low income individuals and high income individuals' access to

8468-422: The aggressive step of proposing a $ 13 billion national broadband network to connect all cities, towns and villages with a population of more than 500 in two phases targeted for completion by 2012 and 2013. The network was supposed to provide speeds up to 10 Mbit/s in 63 metropolitan areas and 4 Mbit/s in an additional 352 cities. In February 2018, the average broadband speed of fixed-line connection in India

8614-445: The allocation of 2G spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary". The bench of GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly imposed a fine of ₹ 50 million (US$ 600,000) on Unitech Wireless, Swan Telecom and Tata Teleservices and a ₹ 5 million (US$ 60,000) fine on Loop Telecom , S Tel , Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services . According to the ruling the then granted licences would remain in place for four months, after which time

8760-500: The allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies. Because of all these factors, the service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling every common middle-class family in India to afford a cell phone. Nearly 32 million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market. Many private operators, such as Reliance Communications , Jio , Tata Indicom , Vodafone , Loop Mobile , Airtel , Idea etc., successfully entered

8906-587: The alternative viewpoint they offered compared to Doordarshan. Some of the notable ones are Aaj Tak (run by the India Today group) and ABP News , CNN-News18 , Times Now , initially run by the NDTV group and their lead anchor, Prannoy Roy ( NDTV now has its own channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV Profit and NDTV India). Over the years, Doordarshan services also have grown from a single national channel to six national and eleven regional channels. Nonetheless, it has lost

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9052-479: The area. This applies to regions that have developed networks, like the United States, but also applies to developing countries, so that very large areas have virtually no coverage. In those areas there are very limited actions that a consumer could take, since the issue is mainly infrastructure. Technologies that provide an internet connection through satellite are becoming more common, like Starlink, but they are still not available in many regions. Based on location,

9198-535: The audio-visual apparatus—including the television channel Doordarshan —in the country prior to the economic reforms of 1991 . In 1997, an autonomous body was established in the name of Prasar Bharti to take care of the public service broadcasting under the Prasar Bharti Act. All India Radio and Doordarshan, which earlier were working as media units under the Ministry of I&B became constituents of

9344-472: The average download speed in India hovered at about 40 KB per second (256 Kbits/s ), the minimum speed set by TRAI, whereas the international average was 5.6 Mbit/s during the same period. In order to attend this infrastructure issue the government declared 2007 as "the year of broadband". To compete with international standards of defining broadband speed the Indian Government has taken

9490-512: The basic telecom sector was also envisaged in this policy. They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom companies and international players. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the total stake. The multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy making. During this period, the World Bank and ITU had advised the Indian Government to liberalise long-distance services to release

9636-522: The body. Pre-liberalisation statistics: While all the major cities and towns in the country were linked with telephones during the British period, the total number of telephones in 1948 numbered only around 80,000. Post-independence, growth remained slow because the telephone was seen more as a status symbol rather than being an instrument of utility. The number of telephones grew leisurely to 980,000 in 1971, 2.15 million in 1981 and 5.07 million in 1991,

9782-765: The chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation . It catalyzed a full-scale global movement to close the digital divide, which quickly spread to all sectors of the global economy. In 2000, US president Bill Clinton mentioned the term in the State of the Union Address . At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic , governments worldwide issued stay-at-home orders that established lockdowns , quarantines, restrictions, and closures. The resulting interruptions to schooling, public services, and business operations drove nearly half of

9928-513: The cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connections crossed the number of fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wireline segment substantially. The mobile subscriber base has grown from 5 million subscribers in 2001 to over 1,179.32 million subscribers as of July 2018. India primarily follows

10074-556: The core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optical fiber and wireless technologies. Satellite television , a relatively new broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the Television segment. The introduction of private FM has boosted radio broadcasting in India . Telecommunication in India has been greatly supported by the Indian National Satellite System system of

10220-462: The country) by 30 April 2009. Phones without valid IMEI cannot be connected to cellular operators. India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector. In addition to landline and mobile phones, some of the companies also provide the WLL service. The mobile tariffs in India have also become

10366-456: The country, one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India possesses a diversified communications system, which links all parts of the country by telephone, Internet, radio, television and satellite. The Indian telecom industry underwent a high rate of market liberalisation and growth since the 1990s and has now become the world's most competitive and one of the fastest growing telecom markets. Telecommunication has supported

10512-608: The country. Due to the rapid growth of the cellular phone industry in India, landlines are facing stiff competition from cellular operators, with the number of wireline subscribers fell from 37.90 million in December 2008 to 20 million in October 2020. This has forced land-line service providers to become more efficient and improve their quality of service. As of October 2020, India has 20 million wireline customers. On July 31, 1995, then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu made

10658-712: The deal, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public. However, even after the merger both the brands have been continued to carry their own independent brands. With all this consolidation, the Indian mobile market has turned into a four-player market, with Jio as the number-one player, with revenue market share of 34%, Airtel India in second position, with revenue market share of 28% and Vi , with revenue market share of 27%. The government operator BSNL/MTNL

10804-444: The digital divide consists of society's lack of knowledge on how to make use of the information and communication tools once they exist within a community. Information professionals have the ability to help bridge the gap by providing reference and information services to help individuals learn and utilize the technologies to which they do have access, regardless of the economic status of the individual seeking help. One can connect to

10950-470: The digital divide, and more specifically an Integrated Iterative Approach General Framework (Integrated Contextual Iterative Approach – ICI) and the digital divide modeling theory under measurement model DDG (Digital Divide Gap) are used to analyze the gap existing between developed and developing countries, and the gap among the 27 members-states of the European Union. The Good Things Foundation ,

11096-550: The digital divide. For example, the digital divide in Germany is unique because it is not largely due to difference in quality of infrastructure. The correlation between income and internet use suggests that the digital divide persists at least in part due to income disparities. Most commonly, a digital divide stems from poverty and the economic barriers that limit resources and prevent people from obtaining or otherwise using newer technologies. In research, while each explanation

11242-401: The economic reforms in the 1990s, satellite television channels from around the world— BBC , CNN , CNBC , and other private television channels gained a foothold in the country. There are no regulations to control the ownership of satellite dish antennas and also for operating cable television systems in India, which in turn has helped for an impressive growth in the viewership. The growth in

11388-634: The economies via digital business. In fact, in these places, populations hold shares approximately 2.5 percentage points higher. During a meeting with the United Nations a Bangladesh representative expressed his concern that poor and undeveloped countries would be left behind due to a lack of funds to bridge the digital gap. The digital divide impacts children's ability to learn and grow in low-income school districts. Without Internet access, students are unable to cultivate necessary technological skills to understand today's dynamic economy. The need for

11534-494: The elderly occurred during the pandemic as healthcare providers increasingly relied upon telemedicine to manage chronic and acute health conditions. There are manifold definitions of the digital divide, all with slightly different emphasis, which is evidenced by related concepts like digital inclusion , digital participation, digital skills, media literacy , and digital accessibility . The infrastructure by which individuals, households, businesses, and communities connect to

11680-407: The first city in India to cross the mobile penetration milestone of 100 mobile connections per 100 people. In 2015 three more cities from Kerala , Kollam , Kochi and Kottayam crossed the 100 mark. In 2017 many other major cities in the country like Chennai , Mysore , Mangalore , Bangalore , Hyderabad , etc. also crossed the milestone. Currently Thiruvananthapuram tops the Indian cities with

11826-628: The first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Kolkata and Diamond Harbour . In 1851, it was opened for the use of the East India Company . The Posts and Telegraphs department occupied a small corner of the Public Works Department at that time. The construction of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of telegraph lines was started in November 1853. These connected Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Peshawar in

11972-461: The first mobile phone call in India using Nokia handset, inaugurating Modi Telstra's MobileNet service from Writers' Building to then Union Telecom Minister Sukhram at Sanchar Bhaban of New Delhi. Sixteen years later 4G services were launched in Kolkata in 2012. With a subscriber base of more than 1151.8 million (31 Oct 2020), the mobile telecommunications system in India is the second-largest in

12118-424: The five-year period between 2005 and 2010 was about 117 per cent. There were 204 Internet service provider (ISPs) offering broadband services in India as of 31 December 2017. As of January 2018, the top five ISPs in terms subscriber base were Reliance Jio (168.39 million), Bharti Airtel (75.01 million), Vodafone (54.83 million), Idea Cellular (37.33 million) and BSNL (21.81 million). In 2009, about 37 per cent of

12264-466: The foreign ownership cap from 49% to 100%. The Government is working to integrate the whole country in one telecom circle. For long-distance calls, the area code prefixed with a zero is dialled first which is then followed by the number (i.e., to call Delhi , 011 would be dialled first followed by the phone number). For international calls, "00" must be dialled first followed by the country code , TNP and local Telephone number . The country code for India

12410-515: The form of accusations of benefit fraud and "faking" their disability for financial gain, which in some cases leads to unnecessary investigations. Due to the rapidly declining price of connectivity and hardware, skills deficits have eclipsed barriers of access as the primary contributor to the gender digital divide . Studies show that women are less likely to know how to leverage devices and Internet access to their full potential, even when they do use digital technologies. In rural India , for example,

12556-423: The global total). Some zero-rating programs such as Facebook Zero offer free/subsidized data access to certain websites. Critics object that this is an anti-competitive program that undermines net neutrality and creates a " walled garden ". A 2015 study reported that 65% of Nigerians , 61% of Indonesians , and 58% of Indians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet" compared with only 5% in

12702-502: The government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26% in VSNL and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises. TATA finally took 25% stake in VSNL. This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian telecom markets. After March 2000, the government became more liberal in making policies and issuing licences to private operators. The government further reduced licence fees for [cellular service providers and increased

12848-809: The government would reissue the licences. Post starting of the commercial operation of Reliance Jio in September 2016, the telecom market saw a huge change in terms of falling tariff rates and reduction of data charges, which changed the economics for some of the telecom players. This resulted in exit of many smaller players from the market. Players like Videocon and Systema sold their spectrum under spectrum trading agreements to Airtel and RCOM respectively in Q4 2016. On 23 February 2017, Telenor India announced that Bharti Airtel will take over all its business and assets in India and deal will be completed in 12 months timeframe. On 14 May 2018, Department of Telecom approved

12994-503: The growth of broadband in rural areas by promoting higher investment in rural infrastructure and establishing subsidised tariffs for rural subscribers under the Universal service scheme of the Indian government. As of May 2014, the Internet was delivered to India mainly by 9 different undersea fibre lines, including SEA-ME-WE 3 , Bay of Bengal Gateway and Europe India Gateway , arriving at 5 different landing points. In March 2015,

13140-483: The growth of the broadband sector in the country accelerated but remained below the growth estimates of the government and related agencies due to resource issues in last-mile access which were predominantly wired-line technologies. This bottleneck was removed in 2010 when the government auctioned 3G spectrum followed by an equally high-profile auction of 4G spectrum that set the scene for a competitive and invigorated wireless broadband market. Now Internet access in India

13286-433: The high potential Indian telecom market. In the initial 5–6 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 million. However, after a number of proactive initiatives taken by regulators and licensors, the total number of mobile subscribers has increased rapidly to over 929 million subscribers as of May 2012. In March 2008,

13432-584: The home and lack of access to a computer in the home. This difficulty, titled the homework gap , affects more than 30% of K-12 students living below the poverty threshold, and disproportionally affects American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic students. These types of interruptions or privilege gaps in education exemplify problems in the systemic marginalization of historically oppressed individuals in primary education. The pandemic exposed inequity causing discrepancies in learning. A lack of "tech readiness", that is, confident and independent use of devices,

13578-567: The hurdles. In 1997, the government set up TRAI ( Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ) which reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policymaking. The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced better liberalisation policies. In 2000, the Vajpayee government constituted the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) through an amendment of

13724-422: The increasing number of such devices, some have concluded that the digital divide among individuals has increasingly been closing as the result of a natural and almost automatic process. Others point to persistent lower levels of connectivity among women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with lower incomes, rural residents, and less educated people as evidence that addressing inequalities in access to and use of

13870-553: The information that ICTs and connectivity provide, that individual is capable of becoming a "digital citizen." In the United States, the research provided by Unguarded Availability Services notes a direct correlation between a company's access to technological advancements and its overall success in bolstering the economy. The study, which includes over 2,000 IT executives and staff officers, indicates that 69 percent of employees feel they do not have access to sufficient technology to make their jobs easier, while 63 percent of them believe

14016-577: The internet divided by the percentage of men who use the internet. Ideally, countries want to have gender parity scores between 0.98 and 1.02. The region with the least gender parity is Africa with a score of 0.75. The next lowest gender parity score belongs to the Arab States at 0.87. Americans, Commonwealth of Independent States, and Europe all have the highest gender parity scores with scores that do not go below 0.98 or higher than 1. Gender parity scores are often impacted by class. Low income regions have

14162-536: The internet in a variety of locations, such as homes, offices, schools, libraries, public spaces, and Internet cafes. Levels of connectivity often vary between rural, suburban, and urban areas. In 2017, the Wireless Broadband Alliance published the white paper The Urban Unconnected , which highlighted that in the eight countries with the world's highest GNP about 1.75 billion people had no internet connection, and one third of them lived in

14308-648: The internet starts while children are in school – necessary for matters such as school portal access, homework submission, and assignment research. The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Task Force created a report showing that about 70% of teachers give students homework that demand access to broadband. Approximately 65% of young scholars use the Internet at home to complete assignments as well as connect with teachers and other students via discussion boards and shared files. A recent study indicates that approximately 50% of students say that they are unable to finish their homework due to an inability to either connect to

14454-869: The internet. The Facebook divide , a concept derived from the "digital divide", is the phenomenon with regard to access to, use of, and impact of Facebook on society. It was coined at the International Conference on Management Practices for the New Economy (ICMAPRANE-17) on February 10–11, 2017. Additional concepts of Facebook Native and Facebook Immigrants were suggested at the conference. Facebook divide , Facebook native , Facebook immigrants , and Facebook left-behind are concepts for social and business management research. Facebook immigrants utilize Facebook for their accumulation of both bonding and bridging social capital . Facebook natives, Facebook immigrants, and Facebook left-behind induced

14600-573: The introduction of the NTIA reports, much of the early, relevant literature began to reference the NTIA's digital divide definition. The digital divide is commonly defined as being between the "haves" and "have-nots". The U.S. Federal Communications Commission 's (FCC) 2019 Broadband Deployment Report indicated that 21.3 million Americans do not have access to wired or wireless broadband internet. As of 2020, BroadbandNow, an independent research company studying access to internet technologies, estimated that

14746-419: The lack of technological mechanisms hinders their ability to develop new work skills. Additional analysis provides more evidence to show how the digital divide also affects the economy in places all over the world. A BEG report suggests that in countries like Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K., the digital connection among communities is made easier, allowing for their populations to obtain a much larger share of

14892-536: The late 1990s" increased digital inequality, as well as "the initial introduction of broadband DSL and cable modems during 2003–2004 increased levels of inequality". During the mid-2000s, communication capacity was more unequally distributed than during the late 1980s, when only fixed-line phones existed. The most recent increase in digital equality stems from the massive diffusion of the latest digital innovations (i.e. fixed and mobile broadband infrastructures, e.g. 5G and fiber optics FTTH ). Measurement methodologies of

15038-407: The leadership in market, though it underwent many phases of modernisation in order to contain tough competition from private channels. Digital divide People who are homeless , living in poverty, elderly people, and those living in rural communities may have limited access to the Internet; in contrast, urban middle class and upper-class people have easy access to the Internet. Another divide

15184-415: The lesser household. Although many groups in society are affected by a lack of access to computers or the Internet, communities of color are specifically observed to be negatively affected by the digital divide. Pew research shows that as of 2021, home broadband rates are 81% for White households, 71% for Black households and 65% for Hispanic households. While 63% of adults find the lack of broadband to be

15330-518: The lowest in the world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$ 0.15 only. Decentralisation has been the new push by the government through PM WANI scheme launched in Dec 2020 to push Internet penetration above the current 50% threshold into smaller towns and villages. This opens up opportunities for multiple small and medium scale local business models as well as decentralized solutions using Blockchain . On 2 February 2012

15476-618: The lowest income households had no access to internet or digital devices at home compared to only 1% of the highest income households. According to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults executed from January 25 to February 8, 2021, the digital lives of Americans with high and low incomes are varied. Conversely, the proportion of Americans that use home internet or cell phones has maintained constant between 2019 and 2021. A quarter of those with yearly average earnings under $ 30,000 (24%) says they don't own smartphones. Four out of every ten low-income people (43%) do not have home internet access or

15622-436: The lowest. From 2010 to 2014 Europe went from 67% to 75% and in the same time span Africa went from 10% to 19%. Network speeds play a large role in the quality of an internet connection. Large cities and towns may have better access to high speed internet than rural areas, which may have limited or no service. Households can be locked into a specific service provider, since it may be the only carrier that even offers service to

15768-436: The major urban centers. Delhi (5.3 millions, 9% of the total population), São Paulo (4.3 millions, 36%), New York (1.6 mln, 19%), and Moscow (2.1 mln, 17%) registered the highest percentages of citizens who had no internet access of any type. As of 2021, only about half of the world's population had access to the internet, leaving 3.7 billion people without internet. A majority of those are in developing countries, and

15914-507: The medium will require much more than the passing of time. Recent studies have measured the digital divide not in terms of technological devices, but in terms of the existing bandwidth per individual (in kbit/s per capita). As shown in the Figure on the side, the digital divide in kbit/s is not monotonically decreasing but re-opens up with each new innovation. For example, "the massive diffusion of narrow-band Internet and mobile phones during

16060-422: The merger of Telenor India with Bharti Airtel paving the way for final commercial closing of the merger between the two companies. Telenor India has been acquired by Airtel almost without any cost. On 12 October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire the consumer mobile businesses of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharastra Ltd (TTML) in a debt-free cash-free deal. The deal

16206-554: The monopoly of the state-owned DoT and VSNL and to enable competition in the long-distance carrier business which would help reduce tariff's and better the economy of the country. The Rao run government instead liberalised the local services, taking the opposite political parties into confidence and assuring foreign involvement in the long-distance business after 5 years. The country was divided into 20 telecommunication circles for basic telephony and 18 circles for mobile services. These circles were divided into category A, B and C depending on

16352-426: The most powerful explanatory variables for ICT access and usage. Evidence was found that Caucasians are much more likely than non-Caucasians to own a computer as well as have access to the Internet in their homes. As for geographic location, people living in urban centers have more access and show more usage of computer services than those in rural areas. In developing countries, a digital divide between women and men

16498-877: The need for more enhancements. Common Sense Media , a nonprofit group based in San Francisco, surveyed almost 1,400 parents and reported in 2011 that 47 percent of families with incomes more than $ 75,000 had downloaded apps for their children, while only 14 percent of families earning less than $ 30,000 had done so. As of 2014, the gap in a digital divide was known to exist for a number of reasons. Obtaining access to ICTs and using them actively has been linked to demographic and socio-economic characteristics including income, education, race, gender, geographic location (urban-rural), age, skills, awareness, political, cultural and psychological attitudes. Multiple regression analysis across countries has shown that income levels and educational attainment are identified as providing

16644-460: The north; Agra , Mumbai (then Bombay) through Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai (then Madras) in the south; Ooty and Bangalore . William O'Shaughnessy , who pioneered the Telegraphy and telephone in India, belonged to the Public Works Department, and worked towards the development of telecom throughout this period. A separate department was opened in 1854 when telegraph facilities were opened to

16790-479: The number of satellite channels was triggered by corporate business houses such as Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific group and Zee Entertainment Enterprises . Initially restricted to music and entertainment channels, viewership grew, giving rise to several channels in regional languages , especially Hindi . The main news channels available were CNN and BBC News . In the late 1990s, many current affairs and news channels sprouted, becoming immensely popular because of

16936-454: The operations wing of DoT on 1 October 2000 and named it as Department of Telecommunication Services (DTS) which was later named as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The proposal of raising the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by the opposite political parties and leftist thinkers. Domestic business groups wanted the government to privatise VSNL. Finally in April 2002,

17082-554: The pandemic. The accelerated use of digital technologies creates a landscape where the ability, or lack thereof, to access digital spaces becomes a crucial factor in everyday life. According to the Pew Research Center , 59% of children from lower-income families were likely to face digital obstacles in completing school assignments. These obstacles included the use of a cellphone to complete homework, having to use public Wi-Fi because of unreliable internet service in

17228-518: The pandemic. There is still a large rural-urban disparity in internet speeds, with metropolitan areas in France and Denmark reaching rates of more than 150 Mbps, while many rural areas in Greece , Croatia , and Cyprus have speeds of less than 60 Mbps. The EU aspires for complete gigabit coverage by 2030, however as of 2022, only over 60% of Europe has high-speed internet infrastructure, signalling

17374-400: The paper is to address these concerns. Prof. S. P. Chakravarti is known as the father of electronics and telecommunications engineering in India. He started electronics and telecommunications education, training and research in India. Telecommunications in India began with the introduction of the Telegraphy . The Indian postal and telecom sectors are one of the world's oldest. In 1850,

17520-402: The percentage of women in computing jobs was 36%, however in 2016, this number had fallen to 25%. This can be seen in the under representation of women in IT hubs such as Silicon Valley. There has also been the presence of algorithmic bias that has been shown in machine learning algorithms that are implemented by major companies. In 2015, Amazon had to abandon a recruiting algorithm that showed

17666-400: The present inequalities and lead to individuals living with disabilities being left behind in society. Issues such as the perception of disabilities in society, national and regional government policy, corporate policy, mainstream computing technologies, and real-time online communication have been found to contribute to the impact of the digital divide on individuals with disabilities. In 2022,

17812-685: The public. In 1880, two telephone companies, namely the Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to establish a telephone exchange in India. Permission was refused on the grounds that the establishment of telephone networking was a government monopoly and that the government itself should undertake the work. In 1881, the government later reversed its earlier decision and

17958-433: The rapidly evolving digital environment and continue their own professional development. Factors such as nationality, gender, and income contribute to the digital divide across the globe. Depending on what someone identifies as, their access to the internet can potentially decrease. According to a study conducted by the ITU in 2022, Africa has the fewest people on the internet at a 40% rate; the next lowest internet population

18104-581: The relationship between education and the free distribution of information were raised by thinkers such as Mary Wollstonecraft , Immanuel Kant and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778). The latter advocated that governments should intervene to ensure that any society's economic benefits should be fairly and meaningfully distributed. Amid the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, Rousseau's idea helped to justify poor laws that created

18250-408: The resumes belong to male individuals, which is a reflection of male dominance across the tech industry. The age gap contributes to the digital divide due to the fact that people born before 1983 did not grow up with the internet. According to Marc Prensky, people who fall into this age range are classified as "digital immigrants." A digital immigrant is defined as "a person born or brought up before

18396-554: The same study tended to use just the basic functionalities of their phone, such as making calls and using the calculator. Similar trends can be seen even in areas where Internet access is near-universal. A survey of women in nine cities around the world revealed that although 97% of women were using social media, only 48% of them were expanding their networks, and only 21% of Internet-connected women had searched online for information related to health, legal rights or transport. In some cities, less than one quarter of connected women had used

18542-408: The socioeconomic development of India and has played a significant role in narrowing down the rural-urban digital divide to an extent. It has also helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education programmes for rural communities in India. According to

18688-412: The telecommunication industry were continued by the following government under the prime-minister-ship of Rajiv Gandhi . He invited Sam Pitroda , a US-based Non-resident Indian (NRI) and a former Rockwell International executive to set up a Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) which manufactured electronic telephone exchanges in India for the first time. Sam Pitroda had a significant role as

18834-517: The telephony segment. Most companies were formed by a recent revolution and restructuring launched within a decade, directed by Ministry of Communications and IT , Department of Telecommunications and Minister of Finance . Since then, most companies gained 2G , 3G and 4G licences and engaged fixed-line, mobile and internet business in India. On landlines, intra-circle calls are considered local calls while inter-circle are considered long-distance calls. Foreign Direct Investment policy which increased

18980-431: The total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber base in the country was 375 million, which represented a nearly 50% growth when compared with previous year. As the unbranded Chinese cell phones which do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers pose a serious security risk to the country, Mobile network operators therefore suspended the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8% of all mobiles in

19126-489: The users access the Internet from cyber cafes, 30 per cent from an office, and 23 per cent from home. However, the number of mobile Internet users increased rapidly from 2009 on and there were about 359.80 million mobile users at the end of January 2018, with a majority using 4G mobile networks. One of the major issues facing the Internet segment in India is the lower average bandwidth of broadband connections compared to that of developed countries. According to 2007 statistics,

19272-430: The value of the revenue in each circle. The government threw open the bids to one private company per circle along with government-owned DoT per circle. For cellular service two service providers were allowed per circle and a 15 years licence was given to each provider. During all these improvements, the government did face oppositions from ITI , DoT, MTNL, VSNL and other labour unions, but they managed to keep away from all

19418-509: The widespread use of digital technology." The internet became officially available for public use on January 1, 1983; anyone born before then has had to adapt to the new age of technology. On the contrary, people born after 1983 are considered "digital natives". Digital natives are defined as people born or brought up during the age of digital technology. Across the globe, there is a 10% difference in internet usage between people aged 15–24 years old and people aged 25 years or older. According to

19564-565: The world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. GSM was comfortably maintaining its position as the dominant mobile technology with 80% of the mobile subscriber market, but CDMA seemed to have stabilised its market share at 20% for the time being. The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long-distance telephone services. Competition, especially after entry of Reliance Jio, has caused prices to drop across India, which are already one of

19710-441: The world enabled by multiple large-scale telecom operators and the ensuant hyper-competition between them. India has the world's second largest Internet user-base with over 949.21 million broadband internet subscribers as of September 2024. Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are the telephone, internet and television broadcast industries in the country which are involved in an ongoing process of developing into

19856-429: The world's population into seeking alternative methods to live while in isolation. These methods included telemedicine, virtual classrooms, online shopping, technology-based social interactions and working remotely, all of which require access to high-speed or broadband internet access and digital technologies. A Pew Research Centre study reports that 90% of Americans describe the use of the Internet as "essential" during

20002-452: The year economic reforms were initiated in the country. The liberalisation of the Indian telecommunications industry started in 1981 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts with Alcatel CIT of France to merge with the state owned Telecom Company (ITI), in an effort to set up 5 million telecom lines per year. Soon after the contracts were signed, the policy was left unfufilled due to political opposition. Attempts to liberalise

20148-422: The younger age group using the internet compared to 83% of people aged 25 years or older. In addition to being less connected with the internet, older generations are less likely to use financial technology, also known as fintech. Fintech is any way of managing money via digital devices. Some examples of fintech include digital payment apps such as Vemno and Apple Pay, tax services such as TurboTax, or applying for

20294-461: Was 20.72 Mbit/s, which is less than the global average download speed of 42.71 Mbit/s. In terms of mobile internet speed, India performed quite poorly, with average speed of 9.01 Mbit/s when compared with global average mobile broadband speed was 22.16 Mbit/s. As of December 2017, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India , the Internet penetration rate in India

20440-423: Was able to add about 10,000 Internet users within 6 months. However, for the next 10 years the Internet experience in the country remained less attractive, with narrow-band connections having speeds less than 56 kbit/s (dial-up). In 2004, the government formulated its broadband policy which defined broadband as "an always-on Internet connection with a download speed of 256 kbit/s or above." From 2005 onward

20586-513: Was developed by representatives from Higher Education institutions that offer Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs in conjunction with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE) with the support of Scottish Government This policy driven approach aims to establish an academic grounding in the exploration of learning and teaching digital literacies and their impact on pedagogy as well as ensuring educators are equipped to teach in

20732-557: Was during this period that the Narsimha Rao -led government introduced the National Telecommunications policy (NTP) in 1994 which brought changes in the ownership, service and regulation of the national telecommunications infrastructure. The policy introduced the concept of telecommunication for all and its vision was to expand the telecommunication facilities to all the villages in India. Liberalisation in

20878-561: Was essentially free for Airtel which incurred TTSL's unpaid spectrum payment liability. TTSL will continue to operate its enterprise, fixed line and broadband businesses and its stake in tower company Viom Networks. The consumer mobile businesses of Tata Docomo, Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) have been merged into Bharti Airtel from 1 July 2019 Reliance Communications had to shut down its 2G and 3G services including all voice services and only offer 4G data services from 29 December 2017, as

21024-404: Was reported among the US elderly population; with more than 50% reporting an inadequate knowledge of devices and more than one-third reporting a lack of confidence. Moreover, according to a UN research paper, similar results can be found across various Asian countries, with those above the age of 74 reporting a lower and more confused usage of digital devices. This aspect of the digital divide and

21170-595: Was the World Trade Organization which passed a Telecommunications Services Act, which resisted regulation of ICT companies so that they would be required to serve hard to serve individuals and communities. In 1999, to assuage anti-globalization forces, the WTO hosted the "Financial Solutions to Digital Divide" in Seattle, US, co-organized by Craig Warren Smith of Digital Divide Institute and Bill Gates Sr.

21316-510: Was the target of online abuse that was attributed to him having a disability. In response to the abuse, a campaign was launched by Price to ensure that Britain's MPs held accountable those who perpetuate online abuse towards those with disabilities. Online abuse towards individuals with disabilities is a factor that can discourage people from engaging online which could prevent people from learning information that could improve their lives. Many individuals living with disabilities face online abuse in

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