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India Today ConclaveEvent CoverageDay 2 March 14, '08Story
Communications will touch all facets of life: Mittal | ||||
Nandini Vaish | ||||
New Delhi, March 14, 2008 |
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Telecom is just the tip of the communication iceberg, is what Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises believes. Speaking on "The Future of Communications & Its Role In Globalisation" at the India Today Conclave 2008, he said, "What we're seeing today is just the very basic platform to an emerging world order in the next 10-15 years." Mittal stated that even though Bharti started as a telecom company, it will not end up being one. "We will turn into a lifestyle provider," he said. Wim Elfrink, Chief Global Officer of Cisco, added: "It's not so much about the technology anymore, it's about service, it's about an experience." With technology pushing down the price of calls, more and more people find it easier to be connected. For instance, in 2002, there were 1.2 billion mobile subscribers. As of 2007, there were 3.5 billion. In 2002, there were 0.5 billion internet users, in 2007, this figure shot up to 1.2 billion. Mittal said communications will transform the world by touching all facets of life. We will soon be seeing massive amounts of tiny computers or chips embedded into everyday items and constantly talking to each other. The key trends will be convergence and speech recognition, which will get consumer-oriented in the next 2-3 years. So, in the near future, a Chinese may be able to converse with an Indian in Hindi. Mittal also spoke of the developing m-payment ecosystem in the country. Bharti Airtel has joined with the GSM Association to launch a pilot programme that will eventually enable more than 25 million Indians abroad to remit money to India through their mobile phones. The idea is to give individuals access to a full range of financial services, even if they don't have bank accounts. The ubiquity and ease of mobile communications will "revolutionise the money transfer industry with its advantages, such as reach, ease of use and lower transaction costs, and provide immense benefits," he said. Elfrink emphasised how technology could bridge the digital divide and usher in a rural transformation, including improved agricultural supply chain, rural BPOs, government services, education and healthcare. |
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