CII 5G Digital India Telecom Convergence Summit 2018

5G Launch to Enhance possibilities of Affordable Telecom Services across Sectors – Mr Akhil Gupta, Vice Chairman, Bharti Group & Executive Chairman, Bharti Infratel.

The launch of 5G services will enhance the possibilities of affordable telecom services across sectors, thereby paving the way to achieve the objectives set by the recently announced National Digital Communications Policy 2018, said Mr. Akhil Gupta, Vice Chairman, Bharti Group & Executive Chairman, Bharti Infratel. Mr Gupta was addressing delegates at the 6^th Edition of CII Telecom Convergence Summit – “5G for the future” organised today at New Delhi.

Mr Gupta further said that the new policy is a fine document drafted with a visionary approach. From the industry point of view, it is the most simplest and straightforward vision put together, added Mr Gupta. As 5G is the next generation technology, it is going to be one of the prime factors in achieving the objectives set by the new telecom policy, emphasised Mr Gupta.

Mr. Gupta further added that, “to attain a successful implementation of 5G network in India, there is need for huge infrastructure setup and the provisions to share them. Also, the spectrum fee should not be looked as a revenue generator by the government. Rather, the government should look at facilitating a smooth allocation of spectrum so that affordable and effective 5G implementation can be achieved. It can look at a revenue share model to make up to the losses occurred during the spectrum auction, if any.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Umang Das, Summit Chairman & Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Telecom & Broadband said that 5G will set the stage for the next major paradigm shift in wireless evolution. He further said that 5G would be designed not just to build on the past wireless generations, but to provide a flexible canvas for groundbreaking applications that are yet to be invented. He further said that the Indian telecom market ranks among the fastest growing industries in the country, and it is vital that we work with collaborative approach with government, industry and state to shape the future communication networks.

Speaking at the summit , Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, President – Aeris Communications India, said that the positive outlook of the Indian Government on the early deployment of 5G in the country for achieving a globally-competitive product development and manufacturing ecosystem targeting 50% of India’s market and 10% of global market over 5-7 years is very encouraging. Dr Bhatnagar emphasised that for a holistic and increased adoption of 5G  in India, it is critical to establish a functional ecosystem of mobile handsets, chipsets and device manufacturers, technologists, system integrators and telecom service providers. Coming up with innovative pricing models for the price sensitive Indian consumers is another key factor for success, added Dr Bhatnagar.

In his theme presentation, Mr. Sathish Gopalaiah, Partner & Head- TMT Consulting, Deloitte India highlighted that 5G is not a mere technology upgrade, it is the catalyst that would further fuel the Digital revolution that is underway in India; transforming industries and society to benefit the Indian economy as well as make life better for our people.

Mr Randeep Raina, Chief Technology Officer, India Market – Nokia, while addressing the conference, said, “5G will not be just a new mobile technology but will enable an entirely new array of use-cases and possibilities. Nokia with its end-to-end portfolio and delivery capabilities is well positioned for the 5G era. We have been leading commercial deployment of 5G globally, both from the standardization and commercialization aspects. We are confident that India will be no different as we engage with and participate in various initiatives by the Industry and the Government towards the path to 5G.”

Mr. C S Rao, Chairman – USA & India, QuadGen Wireless Solutions Inc, said, “5G will drive the Digital Democracy and Digital Networked Economy to a faster reality by 2020”.

Mr. Rao further added, “Clearly, the formation of a High Level Forum for 5G headed by Prof. Paul Raj of Stanford University with three government secretaries from DoT / DST and DIETY respectively, is an indication of government’s catalytic role to drive the fast enough adoption of 5G in India. Going forward, enhanced Mobile Broadband at Gbps speed ,e -Agriculture on IoT technologies and Smart Cities with Real Time Traffic monitoring and surveillance will soon be a reality in Digital India.”

Mr Ankur Singh Chauhan, Regional Director, CII Northern Region in his concluding remarks mentioned that all the stakeholders, put together, can play a major role in India’s socio economic growth.

The summit was attended by the who’s who of Telecom Industry and witnessed participation of over 200 delegates from Savitri Telecom, QuadGen, NEC, Karnataka Bank, Hughes, iTriangle, Tata Communications, etc amongst others. – CT Bureau