300 mn kept away from basic internet: Mukesh Ambani calls for scrapping 2G

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday called for urgent policy measures to move away from 2G services, which started 25 years ago, and make it a "part of history".

On the silver jubilee of the 1st mobile phone call made in India, Ambani said that 2G era feature phones have kept around 300 million subscribers away from basic internet services when both India and other countries are venturing into 5G era.

"I specifically refer to the fact that India still has 300 million mobile subscribers trapped in the 2G era, their feature phones keep them excluded even from the basic usage of the internet at a time when both India and the rest of the world are standing at the doorsteps of 5G telephony. I think necessary policy steps should be taken with utmost urgency to make 2G a part of history," Ambani said.

Earlier, Ambani had announced that RIL's telecom arm Jio will strive to make India free of 2G by migrating from feature phones to an affordable smartphone.