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Tag: White Space Spectrum

  • Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Meets PM Modi to Discuss the Digital India Project

    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Meets PM Modi to Discuss the Digital India Project

    Narendra Modi has a long list of high-profile guests flying over to India to meet him. The recent addition to the list was Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella.

    Nadella after meeting the PM at his office on Friday commented, “it’s always fantastic for me personally to be in India and the conversation I had with the minister was wide ranging,”

    Nadella is the third major tech executive to meet PM Modi, after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. While it is largely being dubbed as a personal visit for the India-born chief executive of the American software giant, he was also supposed to address Microsoft’s employees in India on Friday.

    Earlier in the day Nadella met PM Narendra Modi and communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. “I have an aspiration that in this mobile and cloud world, we can empower every individual citizen of India and every business organization and institution in India to be able to try with new technology. So, I am looking forward to be a part of both the Digital India and Make in India,” he said.

    One of the major highlight of this high-profile meeting was the talks between Nadella and telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad where he urged the telecom minister to allow Microsoft to pilot its ‘White-Fi’ technology to provide internet connectivity in remote villages in the country.

    Microsoft India, since last month, has been seeking approvals to deploy a project that will enable Internet connectivity using ‘White Space’ spectrum that is currently used for television transmission by Doordarshan. White space technology has previously been deployed in South Africa, Ghana, and the UK, although to this point, white space broadband hasn’t been deployed at a commercially meaningful scale.

    This was the second courtesy call of the Microsoft CEO to PM Narendra Modi. Nadella met the Prime Minister earlier during his first India visit after taking charge as boss of the top software company.

  • Microsoft Plans to Use ‘White Space’ Tech to Deliver Free Internet Across India

    Microsoft Plans to Use ‘White Space’ Tech to Deliver Free Internet Across India

    Microsoft India is all set to provide free last-mile internet connectivity across the country. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Microsoft India is seeking approvals to deploy a project that will enable Internet connectivity using ‘White Space’ spectrum that is currently used for television transmission by Doordarshan.

     The company has asked permission to initiate a pilot project in two districts, after which it will be rolled out all across the country. The chairman of Microsoft India, Bhaskar Pramanik, said that Microsoft has sought clearance for a pilot program in two districts for its white space initiative. White space technology has previously been deployed in South Africa, Ghana, and the UK, although to this point, white space broadband hasn’t been deployed at a commercially meaningful scale.

    “Wi-Fi has a range of only about 100 metres, whereas the 200-300 MHz spectrum band available in the white space can reach up to 10 km,” said Bhaskar Pramanik. “This spectrum belongs mainly to Doordarshan and the government and is not used at all. We have sought clearance for a pilot project in two districts.”

    The company said if the pilots are successful, the project will be turned nationwide and could give a huge boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, which proposes to use technology to deliver authority to every citizen of India, even in remote areas.

    “The challenge is the lack of digital infrastructure across India. This initiative addresses this challenge in a cost-effective manner and creates an eco-system that will benefit everyone, including manufacturers of routers and other technology devices, other technology companies, besides Microsoft,” Pramanik further elaborated.

    However, the technology hasn’t been widely adopted anywhere in the world, but experts believe it can lead to a spurt in broadband connectivity in countries such as India. Engineers at Microsoft Development Centres in India have adapted this unlicensed technology for this country.

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