From Fibre To Satellite: Scindia Calls For Fair Competition In All Sectors

On the occasion of World WiFi Day, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia delivered a compelling address on India’s evolving telecom landscape, emphasising the need to stay company-agnostic but customer-centric. Speaking of India’s telecom transformation, he underscored the dramatic fall in mobile and data prices over the past three decades—from ₹1 lakh per handset in 1994 and ₹16 per minute call rates to just ₹0.03 per minute today, with data now costing ₹9 per GB versus the global average of $2.49. Calling this the true democratisation of technology, Scindia said India's telecom revolution is rooted in inclusive access and healthy competition. With mobile, broadband, fibre, WiFi, and soon, satellite connectivity, he argued that every technology must be made available to India’s 1.4 billion citizens. He strongly opposed the idea of a duopoly, stressing that competition in every vertical—from telecom carriers to internet service providers—is essential. With BharatNet and the introduction of BharatNet Udyamis (BNUs), Scindia said India is empowering the next generation of digital entrepreneurs, akin to the PCO revolution of the 1990s.