The Department of Telecommunications scheduled the BRICS ICT track in Pune for August 17-21, 2026, linking a working-group meeting, a technology forum and a communications-ministers' meeting.
The August 15 programme made meaningful, affordable and resilient connectivity a priority alongside digital skills, cybersecurity and child online protection. This is a broader agenda than extending a network signal to more locations.
ITU's 2025 connectivity assessment helps explain the distinction. It reported nearly universal mobile-broadband coverage while identifying continuing gaps in service quality, affordability and the skills needed to benefit from access.
A covered household can therefore still face barriers to useful participation. The price of service, the reliability of a connection and the ability to use it are separate questions from whether a mobile network reaches the area.
The Pune schedule placed technical discussions on August 17-19, the forum and expo on August 20, and ministers on August 21. It brought the engineering of connectivity together with affordability, skills and online protection.
