New Delhi:The combination of space technology and telecom will propel the reach of digital services to remote areas and lead to inclusive development, Minister for Communications and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday, underlining the government's commitment to reforms in the sector.
The Minister exhorted the captains of the industry to study global best practices in areas such as spectrum management and come up with suggestions that would contribute towards the formulation of an enabling policy, as well as benchmarks that India can adopt.
Space and telecom are "organically connected" sectors, especially with regard to managing spectrum, he observed.
Noting that the Indian Railways is also a big consumer of space technologies in areas such as planning, efficient movement of trains, crisis management, and communications services at places where fibre and telecom towers are not available, Vaishnaw urged industry to do detailed study with the Railway officials and the Space Department and offer suggestions on applications that can be adopted to make Railways more efficient.
The combined might of space technologies and telecom would also contribute in a "big way" towards inclusive development, the Minister said speaking at an event to mark the launch of the Indian Space Association.
"It is very obvious that space and telecom combined can help us reach areas which are conventionally not reachable... like forested areas, the tribal areas which are in very remote places... in North Eastern parts of our country, the Himalayan sections, the desert areas... Many of these sections where conventional methods could not take digital services, I hope with space technologies we will be able to reach those areas," he said.
Terming space and telecom as organically connected sectors, especially when it comes to managing spectrum, the Minister said that the subject is a complex one and asked the industry leaders to study global best practices on the subject and come up with benchmarks that India can adopt.
"We are an open-minded government. We want to reform this sector and provide level-playing-field to everybody. We want that there should be healthy competition in this sector. So please come up with recommendations which will help us formulate policy in that direction," Vaishnaw added.
The launch of Indian Space Association, will open up new opportunities for industry, research organisations, academia, startups, manufacturers, service organisations like Railways and others.