Bandwidth between 2.2 to 2.5 GHz to be de-licensed

Pramod Mahajan, Union minister, Communication and IT has announced that the
government has decided to de-license the bandwidth between 2.2 and 2.5 GHz. For
major IT companies that use bandwidth for high data transfers, the announcement
made by the minister comes as a major shot in the arm.

According to him, this would enable major IT companies and educational
institutions to establish wireless LAN and enable several computer networks to
access the Internet through a single modem.

Mahajan was speaking at the inauguration of the five-acre Symbiosis campus at
Hinjewadi. Referring to the NASSCOM-Mckinsey report that promises a major
upswing in India’s fortunes in the coming years, Mahajan pointed out that
while IT was two percent of the GDP, it would grow to seven percent by 2008.

The NASSCOM report states that the ‘industry continues to be on track to
achieve the goals’, but the domestic market will grow slower than earlier
projections. Moreover, the mix of services will be slightly different from the
earlier projections, he maintained.

Mahajan said that software exports would account for $ 50 billion and offer
direct employment to at least 40 lakh people and called for quality training to
tackle this issue. “ If we do not produce quality, we will lose our
competitive edge,” he cautioned.

He also pointed out that the IT revolution would not succeed without adequate
power and connectivity.

Cyber News Service