Gadgets
TRAI Says Minimum Broadband Speed Should Be 4 Times Faster
In a 301-page document its recommendations to increase broadband penetration in the country. The regulator noted that on the basis of the inputs it received from stakeholders and its internal analysis, it found that the existing 512Kbps speed is “inadequate for accessing even some basic applications” and found that the minimum threshold should be 2Mbps.
“Broadband is a data connection that is able to support interactive services including Internet access and has the capability of the minimum download speed of 2Mbps to an individual subscriber from the point of presence (POP) of the service provider intending to provide broadband service,” TRAI said in its recommendations.
The regulator also considered categorisation in fixed broadband services based on download speeds, similar to what has been followed in the UK and Europe. It suggested that fixed broadband connections should be classified into three different categories — ‘Basic Broadband’ for connections with download speeds between 2–50Mbps, ‘Fast Broadband’ with 50–300Mbps, and ‘Super-Fast Broadband’ with download speeds of above 300Mbps.
Alongside recommending the minimum speed and categories on the basis of download speeds, TRAI in its document touched upon the need for increasing the penetration of fixed-line broadband in the country. It said that only 9.1 percent of Indian households have fixed broadband, while a majority of residents have mobile broadband as the only source of Internet access.
To improve Internet penetration, TRAI recommends incentivising investment in the last-mile linkage for fixed-line broadband and an interest subvention scheme for capable operators providing wired Internet connections. The regulator also urged the government to create a national portal for Right of Way (RoW) permissions for laying fibre and installing towers.
TRAI also asked the government to subsidise Internet access via broadband for the rural population through a pilot Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. Under the pilot, the regulator said that the government should consider reimbursing 50 percent of the monthly fixed-line broadband subscription charges of not more than Rs. 200 per month. It also noted that the reimbursement could be processed through e-RUPI that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) released last month.
Additionally, TRAI recommends that the government expedites auction of available mid-band spectrum of 3300MHz to 3600MHz airwaves and allocate the millimetre wave (mmWave) range spectrum to enhance mobile broadband speed in the country. It also suggested that a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) should be created by the government to incentivise states and union territories for reforming RoW.
It is important to note that the recommendations made by TRAI are not binding on the service providers. However, the government may consider them and amend related laws.
“At Xbox, we believe that with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games,” Haiyan Zhang, GM, Xbox Gaming AI, said in a blog post. “This partnership will bring together: Inworld’s expertise in working with generative AI models for character development, Microsoft’s cutting-edge cloud-based AI solutions including Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Research’s technical insights into the future of play, and Team Xbox’s strengths in revolutionizing accessible and responsible creator tools for all developers.”
The aforementioned AI design copilot is a toolset that will help game designers turn prompts into scripts and dialogue trees. In contrast, the character runtime will enable dynamically generated plot beats and quests. We’ve already seen heavy AI integration in games by way of procedural generation — a more recent example being the 1000+ planets in Starfield. Not to mention, enemy AI has been around for way longer.
Inworld made headlines in August when it launched a modded story mode for Grand Theft Auto V, Sentient Streets, in which players had to investigate the rise of a bizarre AI-worshipping cult — a segment loaded with characters that spoke in AI-generated dialogue, on the fly. The mod was later taken down by publisher Take-Two, leaving a permanent strike on the creator Bloc’s YouTube channel. As per The Verge, Inworld’s AI technology can also be used for narration in top-down RPGs to warn players about any events awaiting off-screen and respond to questions like we’ve seen in the past year with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Microsoft has also been heavily banking on artificial intelligence, having made a $10 billion (about Rs. 83,254 crore) investment in OpenAI. The company has also integrated AI tools into its popular suite of services and also added an AI copilot to Windows.
Despite being a Microsoft-affiliated AI toolset, it would be interesting to see whether titles using them will be allowed to thrive on other platforms. In July, Valve claimed that it would be cracking down on games that included AI-generated assets if the developer didn’t own the copyright to the piece of art. For the uninitiated, when you insert a prompt to create something in AI, the software simply repurposes existing assets found online and mushes them together — basically stealing from other artists and writers without appropriate commercial licenses. Infringing them would lead to the game not being distributed on Steam, forcing the developers to seek proper licenses for the asset by reaching out to the AI companies involved. It’s unclear how Microsoft’s partnership will play out — as long as AI content is being used as a catalyst to innovate and create something new, it should be fine.
In a post on X shared by BSNL’s Andhra Pradesh (@bsnl_ap_circle) unit, the company confirmed that BSNL users can upgrade their older 2G or 3G SIMs to a 4G SIM for free. Not only will the upgrade be free, but a promotional image shared with the post suggests that users who opt for the upgrade will also receive 4GB of free data that will be valid for three months. It is speculated that BSNL is aiming to boost its upcoming 4G services with this offer. The announcement was first spotted by Telecom Talk.
To access the free data offer and the free upgrade, BSNL users are requested to get in touch with executives at BSNL’s Customer Service Centre, franchisee or retailer stores, or contact one of their Direct Selling Agents (DSA). The promo image also adds in a finer print that the offer is available with certain terms and conditions, but hasn’t detailed any, so far.
Reliance’s Jio recently launched the 4G-supported Bharat B1 feature phone in India. The handset is priced at Rs. 1,299 in India. Alongside 4G connectivity, the phone comes with JioCinema and JioSaavn applications pre-installed.
The Jio Bharat B1 is equipped with the JioPay application, which is said to allow users to make UPI payments. Aiming to increase accessibility, the phone supports 23 languages overall, including multiple regional languages.
Realme, via Weibo, announced the arrival of the Realme GT 5 Pro in China. The display of the handset is confirmed to offer 3000 nits peak brightness. It has also been teased to offer heat dissipation with a surface area of around 10,000mm2. It is confirmed to ship with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. The post doesn’t specify the exact launch date of the smartphone, however, given the release of the teasers, the launch could be just around the corner.
The Realme GT 5 Pro has been in the news a lot lately. It is expected to feature a 6.78-inch (1,264×2,780 pixels) AMOLED display and is tipped to come in 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB RAM options along with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB inbuilt storage options.
For optics, the Realme GT 5 Pro is said to have a triple rear camera unit comprising two 50-megapixel sensors and an 8-megapixel shooter at the rear. The camera setup might include a Sony LYTIA LYT808 sensor, an OmniVision OV08D10 secondary sensor, and a Sony IMX890 telephoto sensor. For selfies, there could be a 32-megapixel sensor at the front. It is said to carry a 5,400mAh battery with support for 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
The Realme GT 5 Pro is expected to come with upgrades over Realme GT 5. The latter was launched in China in August with a price tag of CNY 2,999 for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
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