Telecoms & IT
For
Rural Development
By
DR T.H. CHOWDARY
Director: Center for Telecom Management and Studies
Fellow: Tata Consultancy Services
Chairman: Pragna Bharati (intellect India )
Former: Chairman & Managing Director
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited &
Information Technology Advisor,
Government of Andhra Pradesh
T: +91(40) 6667-1191(O) 2784-6137& 2784-3121®
F: +91 (40) 6667-1111
hanuman.chowdary@tcs.com
Talk @ NIRD, HYD: 25 Jan 2014
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Vision to inspire & Realise the
Potential of Inventions/Discoveries
•
We will produce electricity so cheap that only the rich can afford to burn
candles”
- Thomas Alva Edison: 1878
• Ghar Ghar mein radio
• Gaon Gaon mein telephone - 1978
(A radio in every home; a telephone in every village
We will make telephoning cheaper than a post card)
- Dr T.H.CHOWDARY - 1994
Haath Haath mein telephone
Gaon Gaon mein Internet
(A telephone in everyone’s hand: an Internet kiosk in every village)
-Dr T.H.CHOWDARY – 1997
to bridge the digital divide.
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IT for the Masses
Electric bulb by Thomas Alva Edison Inexpensive to be
affordable by masses to enhance working time, motors,
machines.

Ford's Model “T” production belt car affordable to many
revolutionised personal transport

Steam engine on rails - A new transportation system
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The printing Press in the year 1439 by Gutenberg
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Dissemination of knowledge
Libraries to bridge the knowledge divide

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Masses & Classes
• Masses:
– Uneducated or less educated
– Rural People
– Urban Labouring (manual) people
• Classes
–
–
–
–
Educated, well-salaried
Businessmen
Professionals (knowledge workers)
Ruling Circles (Politicians), govt officials,
industrialists, Bankers
– Security & Defence people
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IT for the Masses
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Knowledge, the empowerer
Education, the Leveller of inequality
How masses & not the elite only benefit – S&T
dissemination
• Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and people who
mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the
power which knowledge gives
– James Madison
(Inscription at the entrance to the Library of Congress
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S & T for Wealth Creation
World GDP per Person, 1000=100
7000
4500
4000
Source: Angus Maddison; J.P.Morgan
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1000
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1200
1400
1600
1800
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2000
2012
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World Population and the Poor
Year
1820
1980
2000
2007
2012
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Population
1.1 billion
5 billion
6 billion
6.5 bln
70 bln
% of the Poor
85%
30%
20%
18%
15%
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ICT Technology
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Dematerialisation of information – Electronification,
digitisation, paketisation, Compression, storage,(solid state
devices – CDs, Pen drives, Memory, Web-sites
Transportation
Telecom Networks
Optical fibers
Microwave RadioTerrestrial, Satellite
Internet

Persons, things, social media (eg: Face Book, Twitter , Linked..)
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ICTs Comprise of
• (Obsolete): Telegraph, telex, Fax?
• Current: Telephones (mobiles: 3.5 bln & fixed phones 1.5 bln)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
PCs; Laptops; Internet
GPS.GIS; TV [Over the air & cable]
Radio [digital, FM]
LANs, WANs, MANs,-Wifi; WiMAX
Email
Optical Fiber Cable [undersea & underground]
Microwave Radio: Satellite & Terrestrial
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Affordability of Electronic Devices:
Ratio of Price of Device to Per Capita Income
in India
Radio
1951
1974
1994
2007
2010
2014
2
0.5
0.02
0.005
0.005
0.003
1.9
1.2
0.37
0.25
0.24
1
1
0.12
0.08
0.03
6
0.75
0.4
0.25
TV Set
NA
Year's
Telephone
Service
2.5
PC
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Urbanisation & Development
Rural Population
Developed Developing
( 5 to 10)% (50 to 70)%
• Contribution of
Agriculture to GDP < 5%
• % Labour engaged
in Agri-related work
< 5%
(20 to 50)%*
upto 60
*15% in China and 18% in India
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Urban/Rural Incomes in India
• 70% of population is Rural; 65% of workforce in
Agriculture
• Contribution of Ag to GDP-(28% in Y2000 plan
and now 15%)
• PCI of Rural people $ 400 (Rs. 16,500)
• PCI of Urban people $ 3200 (Rs. 1,30,000)
• What a disparity?
• In China disparity is even more
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Economic Development
–Moral Consequences 12
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The Various Divides
•
•
•
•
•
•
Urban-Rural
The Rich-Poor
Educated-Illiterate
Landed-Landless
Protected Water; Houses; Electricity
Telephone - (the Missing Link)
• The Digital Divide
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In the Information/Knowledge-Intensive
Age &Societies
• Information is power
• Extended markets/global reach
vendors/traders/consumers
• Marketisation of all activity
• Less transaction costs
• Work from anywhere over Telecoms
• Illiterate, but industrious masses are also
voters, skilled & producers of value
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Reaching the Rural Areas
 Connectivity:
• Capital cost of Road: $ 300/600,000 per km.
• Optical Fiber or
Photonic highways : $ 6000/ 10,000 per km.
50 times cheaper to connect photonically
• 35,000 towns connected by broad band OF system
• 250,000 Panchayats by NOFN cost $ 3.5 bln
• 98% of 650,000 villages telephoned
• 92% of villages have electricity
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Telecom Connectivity (1)
• Technology and Competition brought down costs by over
80% and prices nearly by 90%
• Rural demand for telephones exceeding urban demand
• First phones people have are mobiles
• Wireless deployed for last kilometer connectivity
• Cable TV allowed for broad band
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Telecom Connectivity (2)
• Spend on phone is less than 8% of per capita
income (compared to 250% in 1951, and equal in
1994 ) it has to come down to less than 5% to be
on par with developed countries
• 90% of telephones are mobiles
• 90% of mobiles are pre-paid – control over spend
• Hardly any growth in fixed phones;
• Growth in mobile phones – 15 mln/month
• WiFi and WiMax being deployed
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Bring down price to increase affordability
(a) Affordability
A
X
TSP
PCI
Time
A PCI/ Tele-Service Price
- PCI: Per Capita Income
- TSP: Telephone Service Price
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- A: Affordability
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Applications of IT
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e-governance
e-commerce
e-banking
e-mail
e-libraries
e-tendering
e-registrations
e-land records
e-learning
e-public opinion polls
e-balloting
e-examinations
e-rail reservations
e-ticketing
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Applications of IT
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e-seva
 e-Bill payments
e-money transfers
e-share trading
e-causelists in Courts
e-whistle blowing
e-town-halls
e-advocacy
Video conferencing
Govt at peoples doorsteps
e-transparency
Central Vigilance Commissioner
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ICTs have Accomplished (1)
• Death of distance [Earth is Flat by Thomas
Friedman]
• Postalisation of tariffs
• Democratisation of knowledge [www &
Internet]
• Prospect of Participatory [and not
representative] democracy (as in Athens in
ancient times)
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ICTs have Accomplished (2)
• Empowerment of even the small man to
influence govt. [Chief Minister face to face
with people]
• Getting govt to account – Transparency
[govt at the door step of people]
• Masses, rural folks, artisans, women drawn
into economic activity – DWACRA –
global markets for folk works.
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Exploitation of ICTs
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Survival/Thriving of the fitted
Education/skills
Digital divide
Inequality if all are not enabled to use ICTs
If driving is not learnt what is the use of the car
Removal complexity from interfaces devices
Compute education for all – class VI onwards
“Reskilling” the elders like adult education
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Internet
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Network of networks of information, globally
interconnected.
Accessible not only from PCs, laptops, palm-helds,
cell phones, wirelessly ( riding on roads, sailing on
seas, flying across space)
3.5bln. or 50% of the world’s population has access
to Internet
67% of world population has cell phones; many can
access Internet
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ICTs for Farmers (1)
Coromandel Fertilisers – “Outreach”
• Regd. Sugarcane farmers
• Centered around Sugarcane Command Area in
Nellikuppam Cuddalore Dist.
• Information from Franchised kiosks
(Parry’s Corners)
• India Agriline Farmer’s Forum
• Comprehensive Farming Services
• Covers paddy also since 2002
• Nagarjuna Fertilisers
• EID Parry & Coromandel Fertilisers
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ICTs for Farmers & Fishermen (2)
• Nellikuppam / Pondicherry -
EID Parry / Coromandel Fertilizers; and Nagarjuna
Fertilizers, Services to Agriculturists
• Kerala Fishermen’s use of cell phones
• GPS & Remote Sensing guides Fishermen where
to fish & unload the catch
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ICTs for Farmers (3)
ITC’s e-Chaupals
• Procurement of soya-beans directly from the farmer
• 6,500 chaupals in 8 States, serving 40,000 villages in MP,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,
Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh & Utteranchal & under extension
to 11 more States
• 1000 chaupals connected by V-Sats; rest wireline
• ITC invested Rs.460 mil ( US $ 12 ml.)
• The chaupal is operated by a trusted, selected farmer
instructed, in operation of the PC with a modem, V-Sat
with a solar panel and a battery backup
• Growth & procurement of soybeans, coffee, wheat, rice,
pulses, shirmp
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ICTs for Farmers
ITC’s e-Chaupals
• For ITC 2% saving; the Sanchalak gets 0.5% of
sales
• All information in the local language in the
company’s website in Bangalore ITC Infotech
• In AP of the 175 chaupals 100 relate to tobacco
and 75 to acqua ( shrimp) concern
• Now collaborating with govts to deliver
other services [eg.e-sevas in AP; micro
credit, insurance, health & education]
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ICTs for Rural Populace
• Education: Computer skill integral to
literacy/ education for all (AP, KN,TN…)
• Extend Internet to all villages. Upgrade
public telephones into Internet Kiosks
• Educated & trained attendant
• Deliver G2C; B2C services
• Andhra Pradesh project: 5000 villages
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ICTs for Women
• DWCRA groups in Andhra Pradesh
• About 350,000 cell phones for the groups
• Product advertisement & market creation
Websites (Toys, knit wear, lace curtains,
ornaments, painting…)
• Tele-education.
• E-cash tranfers
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Internet & E-Seva into Villages
(AP)
• Upgrade STD/ISD VPTs into Public
Internet Kiosks Rs. 50,000/- per kiosk
($120)
• Rural Service Delivery Points
• e-sevas available in almost all towns
available
• Land Records, Property taxes; B & D
certificates
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Work taken to Villages: GramIT
• While US, EU, Oceania outsource to Hyderabad,
Hyderabad out-sources to villages.
• Satyam Computers & Byraju Foundation
• 200 Resident village graduates ( BA, B.Com,
B.Sc) trained in Ameringlish; imparted computer
& Internet skills
• Satyam (Hyderabad HQ) outsourced its own
internal work (pay-roll, accounting; travel;
training; MIS
• Satisfied,work from abroad moved to villages
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Work taken to Villages: GramIT (2)
• Broad-band telecom (optical fiber) 512 kbps
extended from point of presence (POP) to worksite by PMP wireless
• Called Gram ITs, these offer transaction
processing services (accounting, bulk mlng;
records digitisation, reminder and follow-up and
travel support).
• A whole Gram IT can be dedicated to a customer
(like twinning of cities across continents; city
com@Gram.IT twinning)
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Work taken to Villages: GramIT (3)
• Gram IT-team contributed part of profits for
village development scheme designed by
them – Independent and local initiative
• Rural Pressure group to demand and get
quality infrastructure and services such as
roads, retailing, education, health
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Social Impact of Gram IT
• Reverse migration ( 5% within 6 months)
• Educated house-wives (lost resource) join
work force (no travel)-20% now
• Un-married girls: better spouses
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E M R I (1)
(In the State of Andhra Pradesh )
• 502 ambulances stationed in 50 towns, in all
the State’s Districts
• 80 mln people access EMRI through 108
• 100,000 emergencies attended & 20,000
lives saved in launch five years ago
• 95% of calls answered within 2 rings
• 16 mnts to reach a victim
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E M R I (2)
• A Satyam computer funded Byraju
Foundation launched, operated &
maintained emergency health/medical
service
• Depends upon wireless, computers &
networks
• Agreements with hundreds of private &
government hospitals
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E M R I (3)
• Police & Doctors at the Central office in
Hyderabad
• Accident & Disease mapping
• Govt “owns” & other govts want
• Example of corporate service to citizens
with government co-operation
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Forging the Missing Link
The attended public telephone (PT)
- Illiteracy no bar, because of educated attendant; self-employed, living by
commission
- 1.2 mil PTs in India (40% in villages; 60% in towns
- 30% of telephone revenues from PTs!
- Tele-density 75% in India 30% in Rural areas
- Yet No disability for any
- Broadband $ 4.0bln (Rs. 200 bln) nation optical fiber project to link
350,000 Panchayats
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Universal Access Fund (UAF) &
Provision
(1)
• 5% of sales of all Telcos
• UAF Administrator
• Bids for provision
– Award Criterion - Lowest Annuity Payment
• Village PTs & Public Internet Kiosks
• Radio Base stations (RBSs) to cover rural areas
funded by USF & allowed to be shared
• Rural mobile phone coverage subsidised from
USF
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Universal Access Fund (UAF) &
Provision
(2)
• Telephone/Internet in schools, Public Libraries,
Primary Health Centers
• IP/VOIP Telephony, Tele-medicine
• Private Philanthropy Foundations eg. Byrraju
Foundation, Hewlett Packard – Wipro, Intel
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ICTs Everywhere & for every Purpose (1)
• Harvesters equipped to measure grain
• Fertiliser application & sprayer (insecticide)
regulated
• Water distribution & irrigation regulated (Israel)
• Milk procurement, sugarcane delivered,
credit/payments computerised & networked
• Counselling for admission & interviews for
appointments and job search from Internet kiosks
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ICTs Everywhere & for every Purpose (2)
• In the words of the Bhagavad Gita (Song
Celestial)
Sarvatah pani-padam tat
Sarvato'ksi-siro-mukham
Sarvatah shrutimal loke
Sarvam avrtya tishthati (B.G. 13.13).
[IT has its hands and feet everywhere, IT has its
eyes and face everywhere, IT enhances/illumines
everywhere, IT sits pervading everything
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DHANYWAD:
THANK YOU
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