Global CEO: Conclave Steering India to the new Digital Universe

The panelists delved on many aspects including monetization, policy support and many others. The takeaway was that once 5G innovation penetrates tier 2 and 3 cities, India will just takeoff. And that is what 5G is poised to bring. Monetization no doubt is key and will remain a challenge for some time. Two years from now, mainstream applications will be video across surveillance across Industry 4.0, cloud gaming, and private 5G networks. However, time will tell which is the killer app!

The esteemed panelists were Narendra Narayana, Managing Director & President-India, Rakuten Symphony; Salil Raje, SVP&GM, Data Center and Communications Group, AMD; Puneet Sethi, SVP&GM, Radio Access Networks Business Unit, Mavenir; Akshaya Moondra, Chief Executive Officer, Vi; Mysore Madhusudhan, Executive Vice President, Collaboration & Connected Solutions, Tata Communications; and P. Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vi.

The panelists had no doubt that revenue would be forthcoming from use cases for entertainment, followed by healthcare. They were worried for agriculture that constitutes 23 percent of India’s GDP and 60 percent of employment. And it may take years find a model that works, and this cannot be acceptable. The esteemed panelists are Sanjay Kaul, President, Service Provider Business, Asia Pacific & Japan, Cisco; Ajay Chitkara, CEO-Airtel Business, Bharti Airtel; Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner, KPMG India; Sanjay Malik, SVP and Head of Market, India Region, Nokia; Ludvig Landgren, Vice President Digital Services & Managed Services IT, South-East Asia, India and Oceania, Ericsson; and C B Velayuthan, Global Managing Director, Equinix.

Sky is the limit was the unanimous thought of all the panellists in this session. They left the audience with the thought that digital world is here to stay and now needs to be imbibed by all; founding pillars are laid out and it is all now about use cases; there is new energy of Atmanirbharta that offers an opportunity, which is unique to Indian manufacturers, and can be replicated around the world, so that India can contribute in multiple dimensions rather han just being a consumer of technology; and last but not the least—connectivity must be digitally inclusive to all sections of society and all geographies in the country. The esteemed panelists are Rakesh Vij, CEO, Truminds; Tushar Agnihotri, CEO – India, Route Mobile Ltd., Marshal Correia, , Vice President and General Manager, India, South Asia, Red Hat; Sanjay Nayak, CEO & Managing Director, Tejas Networks; P.K Purwar, BSNL, CMD; and Harsha Razdan, Co-Head for Clients & Markets, KPMG India.

CT Bureau