DoT draws up plan to bridge digital gap

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mooted a proposal to set up seven telecom centres of excellence (CoEs) to nurture the sector and reduce the rural-urban digital divide.

Both private and public sector companies will be taking part in the project, the first of its kind in the country, estimated to cost Rs 8-10 crore per centre.

DoT has also identified seven educational institutes in the country that could be converted into CoEs and 7 service providers to support the initiative.

It is mulling a tripartite agreement between industry, telecom educational institutes and the department for the project.

The seven institutes are ALTTC, Gaziabad (to be sponsored by BSNL), IIT Kharagpur (by Hutchison Essar), IIT Delhi (AirTel), IIM Ahmedabad (Idea Cellular), IIT Chennai (Reliance Communications), IISc Bangalore (Tata Telecom) and IIT, Guwahati (Aircel).

According to a presentation by Minister for Communications and IT Dayanidhi Maran to the industry captains, the setting up of the CoEs will help the government to achieve its 'Telecom Vision 2010', secure information infrastructure and tap talent before it migrates to other countries.

This would also help in capacity building through knowledge and manage networks in case of disasters.