Introduction

According to a 2010 BBC World Service survey of 27,000 adults in 26 countries, 4 out of 5 people believe Internet access is “a fundamental right.” The people of India, a developing country in South Asia, take this to be true as well. That is precisely why the country has had one of the greatest success stories in the Information Technology (IT) field. Since the launching of Internet Services by the state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) in August 1995, the country has experienced rapid development in broadband Internet. With the opening of numerous cybercafés across the country, an estimated 60% of users regularly access the Internet. According to a recent Internet and Telecommunications Market Report, while 1.4 million people had Internet access in 1998, 81 million of the total 1.18 billion have access today. In addition, the country is supposed to double the number of its internet users by 2015.

Presently, the country also has the fastest growing telecommunications network in the world. According to Telecom India Online, the number of telephone subscribers reached 683.05 million in March 2010, of which the total wireless subscribers’ base was 601 million. Furthermore, the overall teledensity had risen to 54.10% in April 2010. It is projected that 75% of the population, or 1.159 billion people, will have telephone connections by 2013. Competition between service providers in India has caused rates to drop to one of the lowest in the world. Despite the nation’s outstanding achievements in mobile technology, a wide range of infrastructure problems hinder the penetration of such services to rural areas. Some of these include the slow growth in public education, strict labor laws, an insensitive bureaucracy and mismanagement on the part of the politicians. Analyzing ways to correct these flaws will help India in effectively allocating its resources to ensure a wider spread of technology.

Being an Indian, I’m concerned about the progress of my country. I want all my fellow citizens to enjoy the benefits of the modern world as I feel it’ll make them more efficient and stimulate the economy. In my research, I hope to examine India’s journey into the technologically-advanced 21st century. I’d like to investigate what the government and private sector companies are doing to expand the communications industry and how students, in particular, are becoming more accustomed to interacting with technology on a more regular basis. Moreover, I’d like to study whether people are using technology for the right purposes. I hope you learn a lot about India through this blog!