New Delhi: On World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, India proudly celebrates its extraordinary digital journey of empowering its citizens and assuming global leadership.
The Indian telecom sector has witnessed significant developments in recent years, setting the stage for a transformative era. Driven by unprecedented data consumption, a vast user base, and a policy-friendly environment, India continues to foster industry growth and start-up innovation. Today, India has 99% coverage footprint in 4G with over 6 lakh villages covered in 4G and around 4.42 lakh 5G BTS.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also establishing strategic international partnerships and collaborations to build a world-class telecom ecosystem to enhance global connectivity and position India as a global leader in digital innovation and infrastructure. Telecom diplomacy has helped attract new business ventures, forge partnerships with global leaders, nurture domestic startups, and demonstrate India's commitment to driving innovation and securing its leadership position in the global telecommunications landscape. The telecom diplomacy has been focused on outcomes, and many green shoots are visible.
Strategic Partnerships with Partner Countries and Telecom Chip Companies
India has engaged with partner countries, telecom chip companies, and tech giants to forge strategic partnerships. During visits in September 2023 and January 2024 to the USA, the 'US-India OpenRAN Acceleration Roadmap’ was formalised to foster Open RAN adoption and mutual trust for trusted suppliers. Discussions on mutual recognition of security frameworks to improve the ease of doing business and instill user confidence progressed considerably. Partnerships with tech companies like Qualcomm resulted in finalising the MOU for access to chips for startups through C-DOT. Similar efforts with Intel and AMD will provide mentorship to Indian startups. Support for 100 5G labs for developing use cases was also secured during visits to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in February 2024 and the USA.
Exchange of Best Practices
Collaboration with the FCC and NSF of the USA enabled India to start dialogues on international best practices in spectrum allocation, quality of service assurance, and future tech research. The RINGS programme of NSF has the potential to enhance effective collaboration of industry, academia, and Government R&D and is a good model that has led to discussions with Indian industry on similar lines. The response has been enthusiastic.
Creating New Opportunities
India showcased C-DOT's solutions, especially the Cell Broadcast and QKD solutions, to the World Bank and Mauritius, indicating potential deployment in other countries during a visit to the USA in September 2023.
India was successful at the World Radio Conference, held in Dubai in December 2023, to secure benefits for India's telecom and space sectors through the following decisions:
- Use of 6 GHz mid-band spectrum for IMT was negotiated to be used after 2027.
- Ensuring that the Indian NAVIC - GPS system is protected from other operators in the region.
- Ensuring Indian defence operations (4.8-4.94 GHz) from neighbouring countries' IMT deployment in sea/air.
- Agreeing on frequencies for deploying HIBS (High Altitude IMT base stations).
- Inflight internet connectivity in new high-frequency bands for better experience permitted for India.
Increasing Telecom Exports
The gap between imports and exports has decreased in recent years. Most of the 5G demands are being met from Made in India. Indian companies exported Rs 25,200 crores worth of telecom equipment and accessories last year. DoT has made concerted efforts to help domestic companies showcase their products in foreign fora for export. Many domestic companies such as Tejas Networks, Lekha Wireless, and VVDN, the PLI beneficiaries, and Astrome, WiSig, and Signalchip, who are DCIS beneficiaries, were part of various MWC delegations, opening doors for new deals. They are exporting and setting their foot in western nations, particularly the USA. Astrome is exporting E Band technology for the 50bn Rural backhaul program. WiSig ORAN network is under test at Virginia University. VVDN has set up offices in three locations in the USA—Vermont, Austin, and NY—and is already serving clients like CISCO, Maveneir, and TESLA. Further, 31 startups participated in MWC USA and Spain and developed business leads for around $100 million.
Securing Indian Interests and Leadership Positions in International Forums
India's active participation at the World Radio Conference resulted in safeguarding spectrum for Indian operations in airspace and sea from other countries' IMT operations and enabling future 5G deployments.
The Secretary (T) was elected as co-chair of the ITU Digital Innovation Board in March 2024, enhancing India's role in shaping global digital innovation.
Collaboration with partner nations and international bodies such as ITU and APT is crucial for India’s telecom growth. The telecom sector/company can benefit from technology, patents, contributions to ITU, and SEPs. India, through the Bharat 6G Alliance, is entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the NextG Alliance of ATIS, USA, and the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA) of the EU to explore collaboration opportunities on 6G wireless technologies, support a common 6G vision, and create secure and trusted telecommunications as well as resilient supply chains.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) is being held in October 2024 for the first time in India, with over 2,000 delegates from 180 countries participating to decide the future direction of standards for the next generation of telecommunication systems.
Transforming India Mobile Congress (IMC)
Significant efforts were undertaken to make IMC a global event like Mobile World Congress by 2025, which will boost India's economy by attracting international participants and investments.
Tie-ups with PAN IIT USA, GSMA, IEEE, and INSA have resulted in broad-basing IMC 2024 into a world-class hi-tech telecom event.
Tapping Specialized Knowledge
During the visit to the USA in January 2024, DoT entered an MOU with PANIIT to engage with experts in Telecom from IITs for India’s projects for selection and mentoring.
This was followed by the launch of the Future Tech Expert Portal, which facilitates expert engagement in mentoring Indian talent and academic and research collaborations. It now has over 200 registered experts, including 72 related to IIT, 7 from PANIIT, and 10 residing abroad in countries like the UAE, USA, Canada, and the Czech Republic.
Academic and Research Collaborations
The DoT explored potential collaborations in Quantum Networks and Quantum Teleportation with the University of Chicago to elevate R&D, foster innovation, and fortify the startup ecosystem in Quantum Communications within India. A quantum teleportation link between the USA and India is being explored.
The above outreach efforts have succeeded in propelling India into leadership positions in international fora, improving exports, building bridges with advanced countries, learning from best practices, and accessing specialised knowledge from trusted partner countries. /BI
