Telecom players bat for and regulatory improvements ahead of the 5G auctions
India, being one of the fastest growing digital economies is all set to roll out 5G services. As per GSMA, India is set to account for 25% of the total 5G subscribers across the world by 2025.With more than 750 million mobile subscribers and a goal of being a USD 5 trillion economy – 5G will not only be an enabler of growth to the telecom sector in the country but also would propel other sectors to move forward. To discuss the challenges and opportunities that follow, reputed industry leaders met in Mumbai today at the 2nd edition of 5G India Leadership Summit 2019.
The forum comprising of senior leadership teams from leading network operators, network OEMs, Smartphone companies, Academia & Govt. Bodies met to discuss critical factors including cost, quality, technology, investments and regulatory changes needed by the industry to drive sustainable growth in the coming years. The event was supported by institutions such as Mediatek, TATA Tele Business Services, Broadband Forum & Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and was organized by Konnect Worldwide. More than 100 participants attended the event.
Speaking at the inaugural panel, Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, said, “With the world quickly adopting 5G technology India can’t afford to miss the bus as it will pave the way for India to become a truly digital country. 5G will also give a big push to Smart Cities project and 5G will bring the era of inter-connected smart devices at a large scale which would lead to the transformation of machine to machine and IoT technologies for public services. 5G technology is expected to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economy in the coming 15 years comprising of various sectors.”
Attending the event were eminent panelists including senior leaders from Reliance Jio, OnePlus India, COAI, GSMA, Broadband Forum and Deloitte.
Commenting on the 5G readiness, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said “We’ve been testing 5G since 2016. In fact, we were the first to send a tweet on a 5G network and already have a commercially available 5G device in Europe. We are testing the 5G capabilities in India and are prepared for when India makes the leap into 5G. We are excited about the possibilities that 5G will bring, from cloud gaming to seamless video conferencing, the benefits of 5G are vast.”
Nikhil Shah, Broadband Forum Ambassador, hosted the inaugural panel discussion around 5G readiness in India and steered the participants to key issues in the industry. Speaking at the sidelines of the event, Nikhil said,
“We are pleased to take part in the 5G India Leadership Summit which is an important event as India moves to make 5G a reality. Standards have an important role to play in this evolution and during the conference we highlighted how Broadband Forum is accelerating network transformation and cloud evolution through development of an open framework and resources for cloud-based broadband, called Open Broadband. This is a series of initiatives that combine the best of open source with interoperability, standards, and a global network of affiliated labs to support operators wanting to make meaningful change to their networks, while leveraging existing investments and limiting disruption to their customer base.”
Manoj Misra, Senior Public Policy Director, GSMA presented his view on the 5G opportunity in the country. He said, “The GSMA’s vision of ‘Intelligent Connectivity’ highlights how the combination of 5G, Artificial Intelligence, smart platforms and the Internet of Things can deliver benefits for consumers, enterprises, and society at large. The GSMA forecasts, India will contribute a quarter (24%) of the world’s new mobile subscribers over the period to 2025. With rapid migration to 4G-capable devices and smartphones, by 2025, India will emerge as the world’s 2nd largest smartphone market, with an installed base of almost 1 billion devices. The 4G connections will exceed 75% by 2025, and 5G connections base forecast to reach 88 million by 2025. To achieve the potential of the 5G era, three critical elements are required: substantial investment in digital infrastructure, which should largely come from private sources; a digital environment that inspires trust; and a modernised policy and regulatory framework that enables this.”
Aman Khanna, Founder & Director, Konnect Worldwide, added, “The 2nd edition of 5G India Leadership Summit further cemented our resolve in designing quality platforms to empower industry leaders in terms of interacting, connecting and exchanging ideas – thereby leading to a positive change. This year witnessed participation of 150 plus participants from marquee companies and institutions. We are proud to witness the support to the forum from the community. We will carry this success to the next edition of the Summit – thereby aiming to deliver a bigger and better platform to the top leaders in the 5G landscape in the country”.
