Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urges Ravi Shankar
Prasad to allow White-fi technology to provide Internet in villages
NEW DELHI: Satya Nadella, global CEO of
Microsoft, urged telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to allow the US software
major to pilot its 'White-Fi' technology to provide internet connectivity in
remote villages in the country at a meeting in the capital on Friday.
Microsoft's White-Fi, or television
White-Space technology, works like Wi-Fi on a bigger scale to provide wireless
connectivity across a 10 km radius at a speed of up to 16 mbps, by using chunks
of airwaves lying between spectrum kept untouched by broadcasters to avoid
interference or disturbance between transmissions.
Nadella, who is in the country on Christmas
holidays, also discussed with Prasad other ways in which Microsoft could
partner in the government's Digital India initiative. He was accompanied by the
firm's India head Bhaskar Pramanik.
"We have asked Microsoft to put forth
concrete ways in helping achieve various social objectives under Digital India
such as raising digital literacy," Prasad said. A person privy to the
discussion told ET, "The minister assured Nadella that the government
would welcome all possible technological solutions to bring broadband
connectivity to remote areas."
During his visit, Nadella also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
During his visit, Nadella also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The Hyderabad-born Nadella said Microsoft was
committed to setting up data centres in India to promote the cloud first and
mobile first strategy as a means to empower every citizen and business in the
country. ET was the first to report that Microsoft had filed an application
with the wireless planning and coordination wing in October to deploy
White-Space technology for a pilot project in Bangalore.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was the first
global CEO to speak to the telecom minister for deploying alternate technology
— in its case, solar drones — for last mile connectivity, followed by Google,
which offered to provide inexpensive internet access across India through a
network of helium-filled balloons, and now Microsoft.
While Facebook and Google are yet to put in
written requests to the government, Nadella on Friday told Prasad his company
is eagerly awaiting the government's approval to begin the pilot.
The White-Fi technology has already been successfully
implemented in the US and Singapore and is being tested in Kenya, the
Philippines, South Africa and Tanzania, among others. It works on chunks of
unused spectrum available in broadcasting bands in the lower frequencies from
200 MHz to 700 MHz.
The government's Rs 1.13 lakhcrore Digital
India initiative envisages delivering e-services such as health and education
to every nook and corner of the country over broadband by 2019.
Despite the government laying a nationwide
optic fibre network, reaching homes, schools, hospitals and other institutions
may require wireless technology, especially in hard-to-reach areas. This is
where the technology giants such as Facebook and Microsoft hope to deploy their
respective technologies.
According to Microsoft, it costs less than Rs
10 lakh to install a White-Space technology router.
Read more at:
Read more at:
