Microsoft to offer low-cost broadband in 5 lakh villages: Nadella

Microsoft would announce availability of its cloud services operating out of India's data centers.

Intending to become a partner in the ambitious Digital India programme, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Saturday said his company will take lost-cost broadband technology to some five lakh villages across the country.

Speaking at a dinner hosted in San Jose in honour of visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadella said that Microsoft wants to make things and make things happen.

In his remarks, Nadella said Microsoft's plan is to partner with the Indian Government to bring in low-cost broadband connectivity to 500,000 villages in India.

"We believe that lost-cost broad band connectivity coupled with the scale of cloud computing intelligence that can be harnessed from data can help drive creativity, efficiency and productivity across governments and businesses of all sizes," the first Indian-American Microsoft CEO said.

This in turn, he argued, would drive more affordable products and services and access to opportunity to all of India.

To that end, next week Microsoft would announce availability of its cloud services operating out of India's data centers. "This is a big milestone," he said.

"A key part of both Make in India and Digital India, bringing world class infrastructure into India, respecting India’s digital security, sovereignty and privacy is a key milestone for us," Nadella said.