Month: September 2018
On the whole, the Obama administration’s new wireless plan is one of the cleanest and most uncontroversial budget proposals in recent memory and it is supported by the fact that the GOP, which is currently balking at most of President Obama’s budget proposals, has not elected to attack this one. The reason is simple; on the face of it, Obamas wireless plan intends to dramatically expand the reach of wireless access providers, and thus, the potential market as well.
Overall, bottom lines will increase, as well the wireless network, allowing access providers to begin to phase out the infamous last mile problem. DSL and Cable Internet are costly to build out and maintain, while wireless is not. With the recent FCC Net Neutrality legislation, it is clear there is a heated focus on expanding wireless infrastructure to shift the bulk of communication to the wireless model. Already, most new phone numbers are mobile. The Plain Old Telephone network is being phased out, and a home phone makes little sense in light of the convenience of cell phones.
Plan Details: The Money
Broadcast Spectrum Auction: One of the key parts of the proposal was the 500 MHz broadcast spectrum auction, currently held by television and radio broadcasters, and would be sold off specifically for licensed mobile access providers. The total cost of the program is currently estimated at $18 billion, and total revenue is $27.8 billion over 10 years, hence the Obama wireless plan will realize a $9.6 billion net gain. Some will go to the current holders of the spectrum to be sold off in exchange for voluntary surrender of the spectrum.
Infrastructure: The next major part of the plan is the investment of $10.7 billion to build a public safety wireless infrastructure. This will provide police, fire, and other public services high-speed wireless access, allowing them to share video and exchange email. While a little vague, the scope of the plan is extensive and would involve dedicating the D Block of broadcast spectrum for public safety. Much of the cash would be spent on towers and infrastructure to support the use of the spectrum. The recent buyback of the Wireless Philadelphia, a multimillion-dollar effort to provide free wireless and its re-tasking to fire and police use is an example of the goal of this phase of the plan.
Other Funding: $5 billion would go to fund an expansion of the Universal Service Fund, ensuring low-income families access to wireless services, and to support companies that invest money in building private infrastructure in areas traditionally too costly to develop profitably. Safelink wireless is an example of this initiative, providing cell phones and monthly airtime to low-income American.
An additional $3 billion would be invested in research and development of wireless technologies in the education, health care, and energy sectors, which would dovetail with existing health care technology initiatives. Additional funds are already allocated in the Commerce and Agriculture Departments through the Recovery Act and will be used to fund wireless development in rural areas.
Effects of the Plan
With the deployment of DTV and the end of analog broadcast television, a starting gun was sounded and the race was on. Much of the news, beginning with Google’s attempt to enter the most recent spectrum auction and the recent FCC Net Neutrality Act has been the pole positions of the race. For many years, the federal government has supported efforts to bring telephone service to outlying areas of the country. Now the government will assist in the expansion of wireless access to replace the existing infrastructure and create a wireless broadband future.
The plan intends to be a win-win effort with commercial entities benefiting from the creation of a much larger market base, and lower cost of wireless access and America benefiting from a major step forward in technological development. Consumers will benefit by having mobile access nearly everywhere. Finally, the taxpayers will realize 9 billion dollars in revenue over the next ten years. It is rare that any federal program is this balanced and universally accepted.
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The horticulture sector, with a wide array of crops ranging from fruits and vegetables to orchids and nuts, mushrooms and honey – has been a driving force in the stimulating a healthy growth trend in Indian agriculture. India is currently producing 257.2 million tonnes of horticulture produce from an area of 23 million ha. What is significant is that over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 3.8%per annum but production rose by 7.4% per annum. Given the increasing pressure on land, the focus of growth strategy is on raising productivity by supporting high density plantations, protected cultivation, micro irrigation, quality planting material, rejuvenation of senile orchards and focus on post harvest management to ensure that farmers do not lose their produce in transit from farm gate to the consumers plate.
Fruits:
With a production of 76.4 million tonnes, fruits accounts for about 30 per cent of the total production of horticulture crops. The area under fruit crops during 2011-12 was 6.6 million ha, which is almost 29 per cent of area under horticulture in India. The area under fruit crops has increased from 4.0 million ha in 201-02 to 6.7 million ha in 2011-12 with corresponding increase in production from 43.0 to 76.4 million tonnes. A large variety of fruits are grown in India. Of these, banana, mango, citrus, papaya, guava, grape, sapota, pomegranate, pineapple, aonla, litchi, pear, plum, walnut, etc are important. India accounts for 13 percent of the total world production of fruits and leads the world in the production of mango, banana, papaya, sapota, pomegranate, acid lime and aonla.
The leading fruit growing states are Maharashtra which accounts for 16.0 per cent of production followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.0%), Gujarat (10.0%), Karnataka (9.0%), Uttar Pradesh (8.0%), Tamil Nadu (7.0%) and Bihar (5.0%) altogether contributes for about 68.0 percent of the total fruit production in the country. Banana is the major fruit accounting for 35 per cent of total production followed by mango (4.0%), citrus (11.0%), papaya (6.0%), others (17.7%) in the country. It may also be mentioned that in the Himalayan states of Himachal and J&K the GDP from apples, plums, pears and stone fruits exceeds that of GDP from cereal crops.
Vegetables:
Vegetables are also an important constituent in horticulture sector which are mostly low gestation and high income generating crops. Many vegetables are now grown under protected cultivation like green houses and shade nut houses with a scope for off season production, which fetches remunerative prices.
Vegetables occupied an area of 8.9 million ha during 2011-12 with a total production of 155.9 million tonnes having average productivity of 17.4 tonnes/ha.
Vegetable production registered a quantum jump of 77 per cent between 2001-02 and 2011-12.
More than 40 kinds of vegetables belonging to different groups are grown in India in tropical, sub tropical and temperate regions. Important vegetable crops grown in the country are potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, okra, chilies, beans, melons, etc. The leading vegetables growing states are West Bengal which accounts for 15% of production followed by Uttar Pradesh (12%), Bihar (10.0%), Andhra Pradesh (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (6.5%), Gujarat (6.4%), Tamil Nadu (5.8%), Maharashtra (5.7%), Karnataka (5.0%) and Haryana (3.0%) altogether contributes about 83.4% of the total vegetable production in the country. Among vegetables, potato is the major vegetable accounting for 27.0% followed by tomato (12%), onion (11.0%), brinjal (8.0%), cabbage (5.4%), cauliflower (4.7%), okra (4.0%), peas (2.5%) and others (25.4%) in the country. India is the second largest producer of vegetables after China and is a leader in production of vegetables like peas and okra. Besides, India occupies the second position in production of brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower and onion and third in potato and tomato in the world. Vegetables such as potato, tomato, okra and cucurbits are produced abundantly in the country.
Spices:
India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products in the world. Over 100 plant species are known to yield spices and spice products among which around 50 are grown in India. India is known as the home of spices producing a wide variety of spices like black pepper, chilies, ginger, turmeric, garlic, cardamom and variety of tree and seed spices. Major spice producing states are Andhra Pradesh (19.0%), Gujarat (15.0%), Rajasthan (14.7%), Karnataka (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (7.7%) and Tamil Nadu (7.0%). The spice production in India is currently estimated at 5.95 million tonnes from an area of about 3.21milion ha.
The production of spices in the country has registered a substantial increase over the last ten years with average annual growth of 5.8%. Chili is the major spice crop occupying about 25% of area under cultivation and contributing 22% of total spice production in the country. Garlic accounts for 8.0% of area with 21.0% share in production, while turmeric accounts for 6.8% of area with 19.6% share in production.
Flowers:
India has made noticeable advance in the production of flowers, particularly cut flowers, which have a good potential for exports. During 2011-12, floriculture covered an area of 0.32 million ha with a production of 2.6 million tonnes of loose flowers and 75066 million numbers of cut flowers. This sector is generating higher income and employment opportunities especially for women.
While India has been known for growing traditional flowers such as jasmine, marigold, chrysanthemum, tuberose and aster, the commercial cultivation of cut flowers like roses, orchids, gladiolus, carnation, gerbera, anthurium and lilium has become popular in recent times. The important flower growing states are West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, North East, etc. Major area is devoted to production of marigold, jasmine, roses, chrysanthemum, tuberose, etc. The area under cut flowers having stems has increased manifold. Orchids, anthurium, lilium, gerbera and seasonal bulbous flowers are increasingly being grown both for domestic and export markets.
Growth in Exports:
Not only have these impressive production figures ensured a steady supply for the domestic market, they have also made Indian horticulture exports globally competitive. Over the last decade, there has been a significant improvement in export earnings in horticulture.
The horticulture division is working closely with APEDA and state governments to ensure that infrastructure and institutional support for export is available to ensure that farmers can leverage export markets for higher incomes.