What Is The Hurry To Import 5G?

The recent visit of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and the ongoing trade war between China and US has put the spotlight on 5G. While there is no doubt that 5G will be a game changer when it comes to data speeds, in reality, avoiding imported 5G will be by far a much bigger game changer.

If India develops this technology indigenously, she will gain technical superiority, economic leverage and above all, much-needed diplomatic muscle, besides boosting the industries that deploy this indigenous and futuristic technology.

Companies in China, USA, South Korea, Japan and Russia have developed 5G technology and they are lobbying with India to buy and use what they have to offer.

This is where India needs to understand that 5G for this country is not just about technology; it is about India’s future and about a whole new ecosystem.

Since India is projected to be the world’s biggest 5G market after China, and the Internet economy in this country is likely touch the $1 trillion- mark by 2025, it is important for Indian policy makers and lawmakers, cutting across party lines, to consider the following.

The successful roll out of domestic future generation (FG) technology will be a test of ‘Make in India’, Digital India, Start-Up India and indeed, the idea of ‘New India’ itself.

Since no country is going to deploy 5G before 2020, what is our hurry to borrow technology? It is a better idea to build something better and cheaper indigenously, rather than import.

Make India count. This country has a population of 1.3 billion-plus. Our techies are world leaders, but we have been reduced to a body shop of white-collar workers. Indian tech institutes keep tom-tomming about being the best in the world, and we claim to make India a ‘vishwa guru’ (world leader). India was a global knowledge super-power and aims to become one in the next decade. If we want to become the world’s third largest economy, 5G is an opportunity to create our own niche and leap frog over the others in the technology queue.

Whenever sanctions have been imposed on India, we have shown that we possess the wherewithal to deliver and withstand the challenge.

The success of Mangalayan (Mars Orbiter Mission) is a recent and good example of how Indians can beat the West, when it comes to certain aspects of technology. We developed Mangalayan at one-tenth the price of US’s Maven and landed on Mars in the very first attempt.

The biggest test of nationalism, therefore, will be when we have developed indigenous future generation technology, deployed across the country.

Development of indigenous FG technology will prove India’s prowess as a tech-hub and a super-power, who no one can take for granted. We must leverage this opportunity, instead of falling for a borrowed Russian, US, Korean or Chinese technology. We must not remain digital slaves anymore!