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A broadband triple play revolution is waiting to take off in India, which will see the computer, television and telephone becoming interactive, according to Dr Vijay Bhatkar who is credited with the development of India's first supercomputer.
"The broadband triple play technology is fully developed in India. The technology was demonstrated on October 11 and is deliverable over the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd network only," Bhatkar, chairman of ETH Research Lab, told PTI.
Developed by Divinet, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd (MKCL) with financial help from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), the broadband triple play interactive technology has been conceived under the New Millennium Initiative for Technology Leadership of India programme, the well-known scientist, who is Divinet's chief mentor, said.
The hardware, including the chips and software, of the interactive technology is totally indigenous and it took three years to develop it, he said.
For making your computer, television and telephone interactive, all you need is a set-top box and a BSNL broadband connection, costing Rs 4,000, Bhatkar said.
Although India is acknowledged as a leader in information technology, only a very small minority is computer literate and as many as 40 crore (400 million) people out of over a billion (100 crore) do not know how to read and write, he said.
"However, broadband triple play technology is all set to change that. You can learn about the basic applicability of computer and subsequently its advance use through this technology," he said.
Besides, the computer would teach one in his local language and not only subjects relating to information technology but even the basic courses such as mathematics, science, English, et cetera, the noted computer scientist said.
"The computer would turn into a teacher. At least 97 per cent of the population, who do not know English, would too be at leisure to learn anything of their choice. That's what the broadband triple play interactive technology is waiting to do," he said.
"It will teach you any subject, talk and play with you all in the local language if one has problem with English," Bhatkar said, adding that the MKCL has made about 2 million persons computer literate in the last three years in Maharashtra on its own without any government funding.
"We have been able to do this with the help of 2,500 Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd Centres in the state, which has been successful in creating 10,000 jobs. This programme of ours can be replicated at the all-India level and if begun now India can become the world's most computer literate country in another four years," he said.
He said a lot of development was taking place in information and telecom technology in India. The total production from equipment and services of this sector was around 3 lakh crore (3 trillion) annually.
The contribution of information and telecom technology to India's GDP was about 9 per cent to 10 per cent, and software products account for 25 per cent of our export earnings, the noted scientist said adding the industry gave direct and indirect employment to 50 lakh (5 million) people.