1….2……3-Go………..

Free flow of information and communication is a fundamental pillar of socio economic development of a society. World Bank and other international organizations use it as one of their criteria for evaluating ‘good governance’ among nations. The world has always dreamt of living in an age where every human is connected to one another. In 1980s with the invention of mobile telephony this long dream of humankind seemed to be materialized. Since then we have come a long way.
The cut-throat competition in the telecom sector on the one hand has relieved the users from paying hefty bills and on the other hand amplified various services available. Present technologies like CDMA, GSM etc. were successful in trickling down their impacts to reach to the datum. People including the rickshawallahas have now learned to keep the mobiles in their pockets. With such a hold of mobile phones on our society, debates over the latest technologies are bound to take off.
India though lately has decided to go 3G. 3G auction has already created a roar in the country of more than 400 million mobile users. It is a third generation of wireless mobile telephony where mobile communication converges with high speed internet services. It allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates. It carries a huge potential as an instrument for bringing socio economic changes. Apart from being a boon for high data-rate freaks, it also opens up new opportunities for the rural users. It exposes rural people to the wide world of web where computers are still out of reach but most of them do possess mobile phones. It may prove a life- altering experience for them. The one sector which needs it badly is Telemedicine; with still a large number of rural areas lacking in effective medical care the new technologies like 3G arises new hopes. It can revolutionize the way financial and banking sector perceives rural customers. Education is yet another field where it can contribute for instance the implementation of “one laptop per child” may look tedious but “one 3G phone per classroom” is definitely in reach. It also brings in the novel opportunities like online purchase of seeds and fertilizers etc. in places where still computers are rare sight. It also has its share in simplifying agricultural marketing by knowing the current prices, trends etc. on the phone. Thus for rural upliftment, It could be a much needed shot in the arm.
In a recent study it was observed that broadband penetration is directly proportional to the GDP growth of a nation. With more people connected, the businesses amplify accordingly. It’ll enable Indian employees to remote desktop enterprise solutions and also reduce their response time to the customers leading to the increased productivity. The high data rate and optimized service will enhance the competitiveness in the market.
In this cricket and movie crazy nation the 3G set makers are not all over optimistic in considering entertainment sector as the major economy generator driven by 3G services.
Thus 3G services will definitely add to our long fight of creating awareness among people. The citizens will realize the power of being in touch and that will surely put pressure on the politicians and bureaucrats to deliver on ground.
Meanwhile, financial and health services using 3G have already reached a level of convenience and safety in western world and are just getting ready to take off ground in India.