ITU approves IAFI proposal for global report on 4G/5G financial inclusion

45th Meeting of the Working Party 5D (WP5D) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radiocommunication sector, held in Geneva, Switzerland from 31st January to 07th February 2024 at ITU HQ, approved a proposal of the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) to develop a global report on use of mobile technologies for financial inclusion including India’s experience with UPI payments. This proposal was among the ten proposals submitted from India to this first meeting of ITU Radio Group after the World Radio Conference -23 held in Dubai in Nov-Dec. 2023.

The IAFI contribution on Financial Applications of Mobile Technologies presented India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a shining example of success story of fully secured, reliable and fastest Financial Payment application, developed by India, as one of the most important goals achieved under Digital India campaign launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in July 2015, with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

IAFI contribution on this topic specifically highlighted UPI’s robust security, unparalleled reliability, and unmatched speed, emphasizing its critical role in driving financial inclusion and economic growth. It was explained to participating countries that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, an indigenous payment system, is a shining example of homegrown innovation, a real-time payment system that enables seamless money transfers between different banks through mobile phones, simplifies the complexities of traditional banking, offering a user-friendly, secure, and interoperable platform that facilitates a wide range of financial transactions on the mobile user devices.

ITU Specific Applications group meeting which was chaired by Mr. Bharat Bhatia, President of IAFI agreed to include a section on UPI in the ITU Report on Industrial, Societal and Enterprise applications of International Mobile Technology. The draft working document will now be circulated to all ITU member countries and further developed during the Current ITU-R study cycle 2024-2027.

Another Indian contribution to this meeting proposed start of the 6G studies, in particular to define the Technical Performance Requirements (TPR) of 6G. India has been leading the discussions on the TPRs for ubiquitous connectivity which is key to Connecting the Unconnected. This proposal was also approved by the meeting.

In addition to above, 6 other IAFI proposals regarding use radio spectrum above 100 GHz for 5G and in future for 6G, starting detailed studies regarding three new frequency band allocated by ITU for 5G/6G mobile and new frequency bands to be shared with Mobile Satellite Service for providing mobile service in uncovered/remote area and development of standards regarding unwanted emission by 5G mobile base station and by mobile handset were discussed in detail and widely accepted.

CT Bureau