NATIONAL – DIARY OF EVENTS International Telecommunication Union Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, inaugurating the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area Office and Innovation Centre in New delhi, India is moving fast to become a big exporter of telecom technology from being only a user few years ago. India is one of the countries to roll out 5G mobile technology at the fastest rate. 5G services have been expanded over 125 cities within 120 days of its launch. The number of internet users have increased from 25 crores in 2014 to 85 crores with a majority in the rural areas. Furthermore, Mr. Narendra Modi announced that India will soon set up 100 new 5G labs, which will be helpful in developing 5G applications with respect to the unique needs of India. He also unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Document and launched the 6G R&D Test Bed. The Bharat 6G Vision Document is prepared by the Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG-6G) that was constituted in November, 2021 with members from various ministries/departments. The Prime Minister also called this decade a ‘Techade’ because of the smooth, secure, transparent, and trusted telecom and digital model of India. Call Before You Dig (CBuD) App: The prime minister also launched 'Call before u dig' mobile app. The Call Before You Dig (CBuD) App is a tool which has been designed to prevent damage to underlying assets like optical fibre cables that occurs because of uncoordinated digging and excavation.
