No more 2G? Mukesh Ambani calls for urgent policy steps to do away with the network

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday again reiterated his stand on making India "2G mukt" and suggested the government to introduce a policy to make 2G technology mobile service a "part of history".

"I specifically refer to the fact that India still has 300 million mobile subscribers trapped in the 2G era, their feature phones keep them excluded even from the basic usage of the internet at a time when both India and the rest of the world are standing at the doorsteps of 5G telephony. I think necessary policy steps should be taken with utmost urgency to make 2G a part of history," Ambani said.

He was speaking at an event organised by industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) and IMC Studio on the occasion of ''25th Anniversary of Mobile Telephony'' in India.

Earlier Jio has entered into a commercial agreement with Google to jointly develop entry-level affordable 4G and possibly 5G smartphones in the future as the telecom company aims to make India free of 2G technology.

Speaking at the virtual event Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel has suggested the government to reduce taxes and levies on telecom sector to fuel overall economic growth.

"Taxes have generally been very high on this industry. It is important that this is reviewed thoroughly and telecom resources like spectrum, levies should not become a source for the exchequer, but should become a force multiplier in ensuring economic momentum becomes faster and gets accelerated. So, the government can earn its dues from other industries who are going to be riding on the back of this wonderful industry," Mittal said.