BHUBANESWAR: Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Anil Kumar Lahoti on Thursday said India continues to record high data-consumption levels while maintaining affordable tariffs that ensure broad digital access across socio-economic groups.
Delivering the inaugural address at a workshop on performance, quality of service and quality of experience organised in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) here, he said the country has achieved the fastest rollout of 5G services globally, supported by over 1.23 billion telecom subscribers and nearly 99 per cent 4G coverage.
Lahoti underscored India’s emergence as a model for emerging economies in bridging the urban-rural divide, enabling mobile-based financial inclusion and simplifying procedural frameworks under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
He also emphasised the need for deeper multilateral collaboration and called for exploring an ITU regional group for Asia on QoS and QoE to address challenges such as fraud prevention, cybersecurity and network interoperability.
“India’s experience demonstrates how comprehensive telecom policies, regulatory reforms and strong collaboration can drive inclusive growth and digital empowerment,” Lahoti said.
Chief secretary Manoj Ahuja highlighted the vital role of telecom services in public safety and disaster-response systems. He cited Odisha’s experience with cyclones and tsunami alerts and said telecom services had the central role in enabling inclusive growth, economic development and efficient public-service delivery.
“Almost all welfare systems today relies on connectivity. Telecom today underpins inclusive growth, economic development and the delivery of every major welfare programme. From rural governance and panchayat services moving online to the smooth functioning of public works, connectivity now touches every aspect of daily life,” he said.
In a video message, Union minister of state for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar emphasised India’s focus on reliable and high-quality connectivity for citizens and ongoing efforts to strengthen service quality under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
He welcomed the joint work of TRAI and ITU in advancing global standards and best practices.
Secretary of TRAI Atul Kumar Chaudhary underlined the importance of global cooperation in strengthening service-quality frameworks. Director of ITU Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau (ITU-TSB) Seizo Onoe and study group advisor of ITU Martin Adolph also spoke.