PM Modi gives big push to technology; DoT sets up test bed for 5G

In a bid to boost the 5G technology in the country, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has framed a plan to set up a test-bed. This will be anchored by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, as per a report by The Indian Express. DoT has also sought an amount of Rs 35 crore, for the same, in the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2017-18. A DoT official confirmed that the test-bed is expected to be operational within the next six months. Furthermore, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is soon expected to issue a set of recommendations to the Centre that would enable companies wanting to conduct research experiments for the latest generation of mobile telephony. A senior TRAI official told IE that the recommendations would be a part of the suggestions on ease of doing business that the regulator is in process of issuing to the government. In the report, he was quoted as saying, “We need to have an ecosystem in India itself, which is simple so that experiments can be conducted. We should have sand-boxing, and licensing for experimentation on 5G technology here. For experiment purposes, we should have a light-touch system, where if some company wants to do research, it should be able to get a license to do so.”

Centre has already set up a high-level forum comprising officials from the DoT, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and the Department of Science & Technology, with representatives from industry and academia to accelerate the process of research and development of technologies as well as standards pertaining to 5G. The high-level forum, which was set up in September, is expected to evaluate and approve roadmaps and action plans with a broader target of rolling out 5G in India by 2020. One of the key objectives behind setting up the high-level forum on 5G was for India to be able to participate in the process being undertaken by the International Telecommunications Union and other important global bodies in setting up of standards for 5G, which is expected to be a key driver of the next phase of technological growth in form of artificial intelligence, internet of things, and other such technologies.

As per a presentation prepared by the DoT, the targets set for the forum suggest that local manufacturers should be able to capture 50 per cent of the Indian market and 10 per cent of global market over next five to seven years.