The Indian government is looking to have ‘enabling’ policies that would not hinder growth of the industry. Source: Shutterstock

Core systems, enabling ecosystem will help drive India’s 5G, IoT ambitions

INDIA’S Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the ability to build core network for new-age technologies, coupled with an enabling industry eco-system will help drive the country’s ability to take a leading role in 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

Speaking at a summit on IoT organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recently, Sundarajan said called next-generation technologies like IoT critical, adding the government was looking to have ‘enabling’ policies that did not hinder the growth of the industry.

“I agree India has more at stake in IoT and 5G than any other country because we need to leapfrog to meet the aspirations of the young demography and democracy,” she said, as quoted by the Indian Express.

She said IoT was among the newer technologies that would change the way humans interact with machines, enhancing new capabilities and introducing newer forms or services for the domestic and international markets.

“We need to have core network and communications ecosystem that will facilitate 5G and IoT. We also need to get the rest of the ecosystem ready for the paradigm change,” the secretary said.

She pointed out that all sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, consumer retail, smart energy and transport will have to rethink their business models with the advent of these new technologies.

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Factories that leverage the 5G network will be transformed into super-effecient environments | Source: Pixabay

In realising the country’s ambitions to be a leader in these technologies, Sundararajan said some telecommunications companies have already begun conducting pilots for 5G with communications networks serving as a main pillar for India’s 5G goals.

Last month, telecommunications provider Airtel and Huawei announced it was conducting the country’s first 5G network trial, bringing users closer to experiencing premium video streaming across modes such as 360-degree, 4K, ultra-HD, along with virtual reality and augmented reality.

The trial, which took place at Airtel’s Network Experience Centre in Manesar, Gurugram, a user throughput speed of 3Gbps was achieved, which the companies claim is the highest for the 3.5GHz band.

Apart from the ability to enhance Internet of Things (IoT) applications, telco operators and smartphone companies believe that 5G also holds the key to the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Sundararajan said startups and other Indian companies have begun deploying IoT solutions in agriculture, healthcare, industrial automation, and retail, among others.

In order to push India’s 5G blueprint, Sundararajan said stakeholders must come together as an ecosystem.

The telecom department, she said, has taken numerous steps in the areas of machine-to-machine communication, which includes issuing draft M2M service provider registration guidelines in 2016, and finalizing a roadmap for 13-digit M2M numbering scheme, according to the Indian Express.

She added the department will consult the industry to keep the framework in these areas open for innovation.