The Relation between Covid-19 and the Teledensity of India

A Boon or Bane for the Digital Divide

Abstract

Digital connectivity is viewed as a great leveller; however, when access to digital connectivity is skewed, those able to wield it benefit from profitable opportunities while those left behind the times have to play catch up. This gap creates a hindrance to the economic development of a country. This situation can be observed in India, where certain strata of the society are left behind due to geographical, prejudicial, and political reasons. However, recently Covid-19 has posed an anomaly. There has been uncertainty in the telecommunications climate due to the pandemic. Moreover, if the pandemic were to help telecommunications and teledensity, it has to be wielded correctly, supplemented with quick and decisive policies; it would lead to a net positive in India’s efforts to bridge the digital divide. A study using the teledensity data sets of 17 regions from January 2014 through October 2021 was run to analyse the correlation between Covid-19 and the teledensity of these regions. We observed that the relation between Covid-19 cases and teledensity was positive and statistically significant at the 5% level. With a 1% increase in Covid-19 cases, the teledensity increased by 8%, and a rise in Covid-19 cases could explain 27% of the variance in teledensity.