Impact of 3G Network and Wireless Broadband in India
Many media organizations in India and the rest of the world have recently written articles about the upcoming internet revolution in India. About 130 countries in the world already have 3G platforms and India is getting ready to sell its airwaves for third generation services. This is good news for the government as it is likely to generate billions of dollars just from the auction.
But are third generation networks and wireless broadband networks going to make an impact on critical issues facing the nation like poverty, unemployment or lack of real infrastructure? Technology in my opinion is very seductive and addictive. It has to be used in moderation just like any other vices that we humans have.
Kunal Bajaj (India director of British consultancy firm Analysis Mason) is quoted as saying that “3G is going to do to the Internet in India what 2G did to mobile telephony” in an article on CNN. Many others share the same sentiment. But the question is what exactly did 2G do to telephony to India?
Getting a phone in India now is very easy. Making phone calls from India to the rest of the world is a lot cheaper than what it used to be. This was not always the case. I still remember making “trunk calls” in the 80’s and I remember my parents waiting for over 5 years to get a phone connection even in the early nineties. The end result of 2G telephony is an undeniable fact that about 600 million Indians now have cell phones. Billions in revenue are generated by the private phone companies (this also means additional tax revenue for the government).
But outside of the obvious changes has the situation on the ground changed for an average Indian because of 2G telephony? An average Indian probably can get a phone easily but may still have to live without electricity, plumbing or access to clean water. Once the 3G auctions are complete an average Indian will not only be able to talk on the phone but also surf the internet but may still have to do so sitting next to raw sewage or garbage that has not been collected in months.
3G auctions and the like highlight the major policy problem that India is facing. Indian governments are incapable of making tough decisions. So they try to compensate for this weakness by making easy changes that appeal to the hungry middle class. It is easy to auction 2G or 3G networks, it is easy to introduce financial reforms because they can be made by changing a few sentences in the existing laws and it is also easy to build modern airports.
But what about the quality of the roads leading to the airport? When will India have a highway system or a railway system that will connect villages and cities? When will India have a modern water management system or a food distribution system? When will India reform its outdated and corrupt bureaucratic and electoral system?
One year from now India would have completed 20 years of reforms which began under Narasimha Rao. Most of this time has been wasted on “low hanging fruits”. When will we begin to tackle the tough issues and what are we waiting for?
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Category: News & Government