Mobile penetration in India is over 800 million but penetration of internet is only 15%. - Minister of State for Information and Technology Sachin Pilot
The watchword to stem up internet growth is by penetration and that is possible only if the lay man uses the info highway. And to make this virtual reality accessible local language content is the best or rather the only alternative. Mobile penetration in India is over 800 million with around 53% of it in rural India. This captive consumer, in days to come will be accessing internet from their handhelds. The time has come to create local language content applications so that people in rural India can easily access information and entertainment. Aside, Indian government is spending INR 20,000 Cr to lay optic fibre so that all panchayats across the country are connected.
The rise of Information and Communications Technologies in recent years has undoubtedly accelerated the pace of globalization. In increasingly globalized world, even developed countries like India have to catch with the world and the latest technology developments and that could only be possible if major population participates. The global era and the advent of the Information Society demonstrate the need for Indians not only to develop their information and communication infrastructure but also create an enabling environment for information and knowledge sharing in their local language. This could be an advantage for the rural youth, the future workforce. Thus the need to underline the fact that Indians must embrace the emerging technologies, make appropriate use of them as to stimulate development while paying particular attention to the preservation and affirmation of their heritage, their cultural and linguistic legacies. This is practically possible with Local Language content and local language converter enabled browsers.
The situation gains momentum with more mobiles in use than the number of computers in use. Taking this into consideration local language support must be offered primarily on the mobile internets. This would stimulate the internet growth and in turn aid the development at the rural level equally. Though the country penetration in the mobile phony is over 800 Million, but internet penetration is just 15 percent as per the Union Minister Sachin Pilot. While considering the fact that English literacy is pegged at less than 20 percent, the accessibility issue diminishes and is restricted. Whereas, if the content is delivered in local language then, as internet on mobile is cheap, it is accessible by all. (With inputs from internet- AarKay)
