Developments in Communication and Information Technology

• Communication technology is the technology that enables communication, and its evolution has had a marked historical impact.
  • During the French Revolution, the optical semaphore telegraph of Claude Chappe opened between Paris and Lille in 1794 and brought war news to Paris in under an hour.
  • In 2001, firefighters came in on their days off after seeing the attack on the World Trade Center towers on television.
• The expansion of industry in the modern world would have been impossible without it, and its speed has earned the name of a “revolution”.
• Communication and information technology works through modes such as the postal network and telecommunications.
• The wider communications system takes in posts and telegraph, telecommunications, broadcasting, television and information services.
  • It links the segments of a market and supplies the information and data that participants in economic development need.

Nature of Communication

Transport and Communication

• Transport physically carries people and goods. Communication carries only words, messages and ideas.
• The earliest messages went by word of mouth, which needed the speaker and listener to be close. Drums, smoke and flag signals extended the range.
• Writing preserved messages but tied them to transport: letters went by hand, animal and boat, and later by rail and motor vehicle.
• Electrical technology from the early nineteenth century broke that tie.
  • Telegraph, telephone, radio, television, satellite and computer run independently of the transport network.
  • Postal services still depend on it.

Role and Types

• Communication supports the economy, social relations and cultural unity, and draws distant peoples closer.
• In a calamity or emergency, instant news lets relief reach the spot quickly.

Personal Communication

Postal System

• The postal system carried official mail only until 1837, when the public gained access.
• India’s first postage stamp appeared in 1852 at Karachi, for use in Sind alone.
• In 1854 the post office became one organised institution under a Director General, when 700 post offices already existed. It belonged to the railroad, telegraph and postal network with which British India tied its territories together.
• Law: the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 reserved the collection, carriage and delivery of letters inside India to the Government as an exclusive privilege, though private courier services were later allowed.
  • The Post Office Act, 2023 repealed it with effect from 18 June 2024, and drops that general privilege over letters.

• This sevenfold growth gives India the world’s largest postal network, a position restated in Parliament in December 2025.
  • The March 2025 total has 1,39,908 branch post offices and 25,091 departmental post offices.
  • The network had already passed 1.5 lakh post offices by 2004.
  • Rural expansion came largely from extra-departmental offices.
• Average reach: older counts give one post office per 21.09 sq km and 6,602 people. The March 2011 figures were 21.23 sq km and 7,817 people.
• Opening norms: a rural post office must satisfy norms of population, income and distance.
  • An office in hilly, desert or inaccessible areas need earn only 15% of its cost, which means a subsidy of 85%.
  • In normal rural areas it must earn one-third, a subsidy of 66⅔%. Older accounts give 61%.
• Four categories make up the network: head offices, sub-offices, and two extra-departmental grades, sub-offices and branch offices.
  • All offer similar postal services, but only earmarked offices deliver.
  • Accounts are consolidated upward, from the branch office to the sub-office and finally to the head office.
• Universal service: the network keeps basic services available to all, yet it runs at a deficit because its emphasis is social.
• Long-term objective: a post office within 3 km of every village, and a letter-box in every village of over 500 people.

Grameen Sanchar Sewak (GSS) Scheme

• A pilot scheme launched on 24 December 2002, run through the Grameen Dak Sewak Delivery Agents (GDSDA) of the Department of Posts, attached to rural post offices.
• Agents willing to act as franchisees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), on the existing STD/ISD/PCO basis, became Grameen Sanchar Sewaks.
• Each carried a mobile fixed wireless terminal (FWT) with a display in a bag, offering telephone calls door to door on the usual village beat.

The System of Mails

• First-class mail (postcards, inland letters, envelopes) travels by air without surcharge between stations linked by air, wherever that helps.
• Second-class mail (book packets, registered newspapers, periodicals) goes by surface transport, on trains and roads.

• Faster delivery: the Postal Index Number (PIN), a six-digit code in use since 15 August 1972, Speed Post and the Quick Mail Service.
  • DIGIPIN, a ten-character geocoded address for a grid of about 4 m by 4 m, was added in 2025. It complements the PIN.
• Modernisation: a private VSAT satellite network handles money orders and other financial transactions.
  • Automatic mail processing centres came up at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.
  • All head post offices and many sub-post offices were computerised by March 2007.
• International mail: India exchanges mail with over 217 countries by air and surface.
  • Money orders run with 27 countries: two-way with Bhutan and Nepal, and inward only from the other 25.
  • International EMS began in 1986 with five countries and grew to 97.
• Foreign post offices: principal foreign offices of exchange at Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai serve exports and imports.
  • Six sub-foreign post offices: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Kochi (Cochin), Srinagar and Noida.
  • Export extension windows for exporters and tourists: Guwahati, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Moradabad, Surat and Varanasi.
• Membership: the Universal Postal Union since 1876 and the Asian Pacific Postal Union since 1964.

Telecommunications

• Telecommunications covers communication by telephone, mobile and internet, and brought near-instant messaging in place of delays of weeks.
• World-class telecom infrastructure is a key to rapid economic and social development, and the sector is expected to contribute a major part of GDP.
• Telegraph: Samuel Morse demonstrated the electric telegraph in 1844, using the Morse Code of electrical impulses sent along wires.
  • India’s first line, Kolkata (Calcutta) to Diamond Harbour, opened in 1851, only seven years later.
  • Agra and Kolkata were linked by 1854, along with Mumbai and Chennai. By 1900 the telegraph and telephone served the Indian Railways.
  • Telephones, the internet and e-mail made it obsolete, and BSNL closed the telegram service on 15 July 2013.
• Telephone: invented by Alexander Graham Bell and patented in 1876, it reached Kolkata in 1881–82.
  • The first automatic exchange opened at Shimla in 1913–14, with 700 lines.
  • Exchanges moved from manual to electro-mechanical to digital electronic, and all are now electronic.
• International links rest on satellite communication, supplied by the Indian space programme, and on submarine cables.
• Scale: India was the tenth-largest telecom network by number of phones at the end of 2003–04, and is now the second-largest, after China.
  • Reforms, wireless technology and private participation drove this growth.

• Tele-density is the number of telephones per 100 people. The 2026 figures include machine-to-machine (M2M) SIM connections. Without them, overall tele-density is 85.41.
• Wireless phones were 96.7% of the total in 2012 and about 96.4% in September 2026. Wireline has recovered somewhat as fixed broadband spread.
• Rural India had 40.95% of subscribers in September 2026, far below its share of population.

• Regional pattern, September 2026: Delhi has the highest tele-density at 375.65 and Bihar the lowest at 64.49.
  • Nine service areas fall below the national average: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha, North East and Haryana.
  • Delhi’s figure is inflated because its count includes wireless subscribers of Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad, and M2M connections, set against Delhi’s population alone.
• Providers: the mobile market has consolidated into a few firms. Private providers held 92.74% in September 2026, and BSNL and MTNL together 7.26%.

• The chart shows the 2019 position. By September 2026 Reliance Jio led the Indian market, as the table above shows, and Vodafone’s Indian business had become Vodafone Idea.

Regulatory Framework

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was set up in early 1997 to regulate telecom services.
  • A regulator became necessary with liberalisation and private entry, to give all operators a level playing field.
• A separate body, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), settles disputes quickly.
• Private investment and an independent regulator went with separating service provision from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and BSNL was formed in 2000.
• National policy moved through the National Telecom Policies of 1994, 1999 and 2012, and then the National Digital Communications Policy of 2018.
• National Telecom Policy 2012 (approved 31 May 2012) aimed at affordable, secure and reliable services for all:
  • One Nation–One Licence, full mobile number portability and free roaming.
  • Rural tele-density of 70 by 2017 and 100 by 2020, a target still unmet at 61.30 in 2026.
  • Broadband of 175 million connections by 2017 and 600 million by 2020, at 2 Mbps or more, and a “Right to Broadband”. Internet subscribers of all kinds passed 1,100 million in 2026.
  • Broadband to all village panchayats by 2014 and to every village and habitation by 2020.
  • Telecom as infrastructure, right-of-way reform, a common interconnection platform, green telecom and a move to IPv6 by 2020.
• The Telecommunications Act, 2023 replaced the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933. Parts came into force in 2024.
  • Three sets of authorisation rules notified in 2026 replace the old licence-based framework.
• The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has become the Digital Bharat Nidhi, under rules of August 2024, and still funds rural and unviable areas.

Cellular Services

• The country was divided into 23 service areas: 19 telecom circles and 4 metros, for Unified Access Services (UAS), with three private operators and one State operator in each.
  • TRAI now reports 22 licensed service areas: 19 circles and 3 metros (Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata).
• Interconnection: in January 2003 TRAI notified the Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) Regulation.
  • It set what one operator pays another for originating, carrying and ending calls, across basic services including WLL(M), cellular, national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD).
• The new IUC regime took effect on 1 February 2004, and voice tariffs fell.
  • It lowered total access deficit charges (ADC), set a uniform termination charge of ₹0.30 a minute on any network, and cut ADC on long-distance calls.
  • India moved to a bill-and-keep system for domestic voice calls in January 2021.

• The timeline stops at 2008. Mobile number portability then began in Haryana on 25 November 2010 and nationwide on 20 January 2011. FDI rose to 100% under the automatic route in 2021, with safeguards for investors from countries sharing a land border. 5G began in October 2022.
• 5G covered 99.9% of districts with over 5.18 lakh base stations by December 2025.

Internet Services

• Internet services opened to private players in November 1998.
• Foreign equity was first capped at 100% for internet service providers without gateways and 74% with gateways. The 2021 reform allows 100% across telecom.
• Broadband Policy 2004 began the push. By March 2012 India had 22.86 million internet subscribers, of whom 13.79 million were on broadband.
• June 2026: 1,114.17 million internet subscribers, 1,066.43 million of them wireless and only 47.73 million wired.
  • Users averaged about 25.51 GB of wireless data a month in 2025–26.

• The graphic is a forecast made for 2020. India’s internet base has since passed 1.1 billion.
• National Optical Fibre Network: approved at ₹20,000 crore and funded from USOF, so that 2.5 lakh gram panchayats could use broadband for governance, health and education. It is now BharatNet.
  • By March 2026, over 2.15 lakh gram panchayats were connected.
  • Optical fibre grew from 19.35 lakh route km in 2019 to 42.36 lakh route km in 2025.
  • PM-WANI counted 4,09,111 public Wi-Fi hotspots in February 2026.

Mass Communication

• In a vast, multilingual country, mass media build awareness and provide information, education and entertainment. They are electronic (radio, television) or print (newspapers, periodicals).

Prasar Bharati

• Prasar Bharati, the public service broadcaster constituted on 23 November 1997, has two arms, All India Radio and Doordarshan.
• Its aims:
  • National integration, and the unity and values of the Constitution.
  • Citizens’ right to fair, balanced information on public matters.
  • Attention to education, literacy, agriculture, rural development, health, family welfare, science and technology.
  • Awareness on women’s issues and vulnerable groups, and rights of workers, minorities and tribal communities.
  • Coverage of diverse cultures, sports and youth affairs, and research in broadcast technology.

Radio

• Broadcasting began in the 1920s. The Radio Club of Bombay aired the first programme in 1923, and an experimental service began at Mumbai and Kolkata in 1927.
• The Government took over the transmitters as the Indian Broadcasting Service, renamed All India Radio (AIR) in 1936. It is now styled Akashvani.

• FM is the current growth area. The Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND) scheme for 2021–26, worth over ₹2,539 crore, aims at FM coverage of 66% of the area and 80% of the population, up from 59% and 68%.
• Diversity: AIR has broadcast in 24 languages and 146 dialects.
• Five channels: Primary, National, Commercial (Vividh Bharati), FM and External Services.
• News grew from 27 bulletins in 1939–40 to 346 a day. AIR News on Phone began in 1998.

Television

• Doordarshan (DD), the national television service, ranks among the world’s largest terrestrial broadcasters. Television carries particular weight where literacy is low and cultures and languages are many.
• Growth:
  • 15 September 1959: first telecast, from a makeshift studio at Akashvani Bhawan, New Delhi.
  • 1965: regular service with a news bulletin.
  • 1972: a second centre at Mumbai.
  • 1975: service in Srinagar, Amritsar, Kolkata, Chennai and Lucknow.
  • 1975–76: the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), a pioneering use of satellite broadcasting for social education.
  • 1982: colour transmission for the Asian Games, and a regular satellite link that created the National Network.
  • 1984: Metro Channel. 26 January 2002: DD Bharati.
• Three tiers of programming: national, regional and local. The mix covers news, current affairs, science, culture, documentaries, music, drama, films and education for schools and universities.
• Private channels brought competition and 24-hour viewing: 821 private satellite channels in 2014–15 and 908 in 2024–25.
• DD Free Dish, the free-to-air direct-to-home service, reaches areas without terrestrial coverage. In 2025 it carried 50 Doordarshan and 92 private channels.

Cinema

• Feature films began in 1912–13 as silent productions. The talkie era opened in 1931 with Alam Ara, by Ardeshir Irani.
• India is among the world’s largest producers of feature films. Television took part of the audience, which cinema later won back.
• Public exhibition requires a certificate from the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification).

Press and Print Media

• Print media means newspapers, periodicals and journals. Bombay Samachar, a Gujarati daily of Mumbai since 1822, is the oldest surviving newspaper.
• Registered publications: 65,032 in 2007, 1.05 lakh in 2014–15 and 1.55 lakh in 2024–25.
  • The 2007 profile had 7,131 dailies, 22,116 weeklies, 8,547 fortnightlies and 19,456 monthlies, in 123 languages and dialects.
  • By language, 2007: Hindi 20,589, English 7,596, Marathi 2,943.
  • By State, 2007: Uttar Pradesh 8,397, Delhi 6,926, Maharashtra 6,018, Madhya Pradesh 3,555.
  • Dailies by State, 2007: Uttar Pradesh 841, Maharashtra 573, Karnataka 479.
• The Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023 took effect in March 2024, and the Registrar of Newspapers became the Press Registrar General of India.

Information Technology and Digital Development

Computers

• A computer is an electronic data-processing device. It accepts data, stores and recalls it, processes it under instructions and delivers the result as information.
• Speed, accuracy, consistency, storage and automation give it its wide use in education and the spread of knowledge, and they underlie modern information and communication technology.

Information Technology Act, 2000

• The Act seeks an environment of simple, transparent law in which the advantages of new technology can be used. It facilitates e-commerce, electronic filing and electronic records.
• Its highlights:
  • Legal recognition to e-commerce, so that contracts can be enforced.
  • Electronic records count as written records for the purposes of the law.
  • Legal recognition to digital signatures, authenticated by certifying authorities.
  • A Controller of Certifying Authorities oversees those authorities.
  • Cybercrimes defined for the first time.
  • Adjudicating authorities decide whether a cybercrime has occurred.
  • An appellate tribunal hears appeals against them, first the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal and later the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
• Later changes:
  • The tribunal merged into TDSAT on 26 May 2017, under the Finance Act, 2017.
  • The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its Rules of November 2025 add a separate data-protection regime, brought in by stages.

The IT Industry and Its Regional Pattern

• Size in 2025–26: about US$ 315 billion in revenue, about US$ 246 billion of it exports, with about 59.5 lakh workers, which places it among India’s major industries.
• Location: IT is footloose and follows skilled labour, infrastructure and connectivity.
  • Bengaluru leads, followed by Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurugram and Noida.
  • Software Technology Parks and special economic zones supported this clustering.
• Data centres, the newest branch, follow submarine cable landings, power and land, as at Mumbai and Chennai, and at Visakhapatnam, where a Google AI hub of about US$ 15 billion was announced in October 2025.
• Regional effect: ICT has lifted a few metropolitan regions, mostly southern and western, and the National Capital Region, through jobs, exports, housing demand and services.
  • Those gains are concentrated, which feeds regional disparities in development.
• Work culture and society: IT brought remote and flexible work, global teams and night shifts tied to overseas clients.
  • It also brings a large service-sector middle class and greater mobility between cities.
  • The costs include long hours, job insecurity under automation, and urban strain in the hubs.

Digital India and the Digital Divide

• Digital India, launched on 1 July 2015, rests on digital infrastructure as a core utility, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment.
• Contribution: e-governance, direct benefit transfers, online finance and telemedicine lower the friction of distance for remote users. BharatNet and public Wi-Fi extend the reach.
• Digital divide: access still follows the old lines of rural–urban and regional inequality.
  • Internet subscribers per 100 people, March 2026: 48.31 rural against 126.80 urban.
  • Tele-density, September 2026: 61.30 rural against 155.85 urban, and Bihar at 64.49 against Karnataka at 134.36.
  • Fixed lines are thin in villages, where rural wireline tele-density is only 0.58. Rural users therefore depend on mobile networks.
• Remedies include the Digital Bharat Nidhi, an Amended BharatNet Programme of State-led upgrades, as agreed with Chhattisgarh in August 2026 for 4,048 gram panchayats, and local-language services.