New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was a ‘historic day’ for India after launching 5G services at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) here on Saturday.
“It’s a historic day for 21st century India. 5G technology will revolutionize the telecom sector,” the PM said.
“The launch of 5G is a gift from the telecom industry to 130 crore Indians. It is a step towards a new era in the country, it’s the beginning of infinite opportunities,” the PM said at the Pragati Maidan shortly after inaugurating the 4-day India Mobile Congress.
The services have initially been rolled out for 13 cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. Today’s launch was for the four metros: Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Over the next two years, the entire country will be covered.
“New India will not remain a mere consumer of technology but will play an active role in the development and implementation of that technology. We will lead the technological advancements in the world,” Modi said.
“From exporting zero mobile phones in 2014, to now, when we export phones worth thousands of crores… these efforts have had an impact on the cost of the device. Now we have started getting more features at a lower cost,” the PM pointed out.