Telecom Industry to Generate 4 Million Jobs in India: Minister
While the unemployment is spreading like a dreaded disease in India, communications minister Manoj Sinha has hope against hope when he said that telecom industry will generate 4 million jobs.
Delivering the inaugural speech at the India Mobile Congress-2017 in Delhi, Sinha said that India is currently the second largest telecommunication market in the world with over 1.2 billion subscriber base and approximately 450 million internet users.
He said that driven by the adoption of smartphones and exponential increase in data consumption, telecom industry is expected to generate revenue of approximately up to USD $38.25 billion by 2017, registering a CAGR of 5.2% during the period 2014 to 2017.
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He said that investment into the sector has increased by approximately 220% in last four years and to enhance and expand mobile coverage, operators have rolled out more than 0.2 million sites in the last 15 months and every 3 minutes a new site is being put up.
Sinha added that it is also expected that the telecom industry will generate approximately 4 million direct and indirect job opportunities on account of continued focus of government and telcos in the rural market and continued surge in the sale of mobile phones and data usage.
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Traffic from mobile devices contributes to 70% of overall e-commerce traffic. Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow 2.8 times by 2021 to USD 125 billion and mobile devices will drive this growth, he said.
He said fundamental to the goals of Digital India is the country’s communications industry that has not just connected people, but also created jobs, became a tool for knowledge, contributed to the exchequer and the economic growth and amplified financial inclusion.
The Minister said that in the past few years, the government has put the spotlight firmly on technology, smart cities, connected super highways, and enhanced e-governance services delivery for the citizens. All of these are highly dependent on the telecom sector.
He said with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), it will not only be people connecting to the internet but also billions of machines and appliances such as wearables, cars, homes, industrial equipment, white goods, etc.
Introduction of low cost smartphones coupled with government initiatives focussed on ‘Digital India’, rise of convergence, and growth in adoption of latest technologies will play a critical role in connecting the next billion to the internet, the Minister said.
Photo courtesy: Press Information Bureau
