Cabinet approves new telecom policy designed to provide 'broadband for all'

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new telecom policy—National Digital Communications Policy 2018—designed to provide 'broadband to all', Union Communications Minister Manoj Sinha announced.The policy, aimed at providing universal availability of 50 mega-bits per second (Mbps) and attracting investments worth $100 billion, was approved by the Telecom Commission in July after the government came out with a draft policy in May.[caption id="attachment_5267441" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption]Sinha, addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, said that among other targets the policy aims to "provide broadband to all and create 40 lakh jobs". It also aims at providing a "ubiquitous, resilient, secure and affordable" digital communication services.Further, the policy aims at providing 1 Gbps (giga-bits per second) connectivity to all "Gram Panchayats" by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022.It plans to propel India to the top 50 nations in the Information and Communication Technology Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union from 134 in 2017, enhancing the country's contribution to global value chains and ensuring digital sovereignty, he added.