Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa IT Professionals (GITP) team has welcomed the declaration of the Goa Telecom Infrastructure Policy 2020. GITP looks forward to a time-bound implementation of the policy to provide a robust and secure State-of-the-art telecommunication network, providing seamless Internet connectivity with special focus on rural and remote areas of the State.
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“We also welcome the decision of the government to implement the policy through a single-window clearance system for over ground and underground infrastructure,” it says.
GITP says in the present pandemic scenario, all sectors in the State including businesses, industries, education and even governance are bearing the brunt of gross disregard to connectivity-related infrastructure by consecutive governments.
“Despite starting 13 years back (in 2007) and opting for supposedly robust PPP-based Goa Broad Band Network (GBBN) as opposed to State Wide Area Network (SWAN), majority of the State is still struggling with connectivity woes (with the exception of a few urban pockets). We hope that the newly-announced policy will bring in the much-needed respite on the Internet connectivity front. We are given to understand that the policy was prepared by representatives of Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) in consultation with govt departments and various telecom providers such as BSNL, Reliance Jio, Indus Towers Ltd, local Internet service providers such as DNA, DTPL, UTL etc,” it says.
Further, GITP says it expects that the interests of the citizens will be protected while looking after the interest of these stakeholders.
“To emphasise this, we wish to remind the government about the network setup fiasco during the BRICS summit. We also look forward to the policy being made available by the government in public domain,” it added.
“Unlike other policies such as several versions of the IT Policy, Start-up Policy, numerous MoUs, fancy consultants, committees and task forces, etc, of the past which have failed to deliver significant results due to lackadaisical approach in implementation – this newly announced policy gets notified and implemented in a time-bound manner on a war footing. Only time-bound implementation through the much touted single-window system will have the desired impact and help the citizenry in these most difficult times. Without effective execution, more document releases, task forces and MoUs will have no standing or value to the businesses, thousands of Goans flocking back to Goa for “work from home”, freelancers, emerging start-ups and the education sector,” it says.
GITP pledged full support and help within their capacity for the benefit of the IT ecosystem in the State.
