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TRAI chair highlights India’s digital expansion and lessons for other countries
Summary
Anil Kumar Lahoti, representing India’s telecom regulator, described India’s rollout of 4G/5G, large‑scale fiber programs and digital public infrastructure as models other countries study, and urged multistakeholder exchanges at the IGF.
Anil Kumar Lahoti, speaking as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) representative, described India—s recent digital expansion and offered it as a set of practices other countries might study.
Lahoti said India is home to "980,000,000 Internet subscribers" and reported that more than 98% of India’s population has 4G coverage. He described a national fiber program that has invested roughly $5,000,000,000 to connect more than 214,000 gram panchayats and noted a planned further phase with larger investment to reach remaining rural clusters.
Lahoti highlighted three features he said supported rapid digital uptake: low consumer data costs (the speech cited "$0.11, US dollars per gigabyte"), large‑scale digital public infrastructure such as unified payment interfaces and unique ID systems linked to mobile and bank accounts, and sectoral use cases including health monitoring for vaccination programs.
Why it matters: India’s scale and combination of policies — public digital infrastructure, low data costs and regulatory practice — are frequently cited in international forums as a model for digital inclusion and public service delivery. Lahoti stressed that multistakeholder forums like the IGF let countries share and adapt practices.
He also said India is preparing national AI initiatives and a modern data protection statute to address privacy concerns. Lahoti thanked the IGF Secretariat and Norway for the invitation and arrangements.
