The 4th edition of the largest digital technology forum in South Asia i.e. India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020 held virtually for 3 day from December 8-10, 2020 amid COVID-19 and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI) on the theme “Inclusive Innovation – Smart I Secure I Sustainable”.
- The prime sponsors of the conference included Dell Technologies, Ribbon Communications and Red Hat.
Aim of IMC 2020: To align Prime Minister’s Vision on the following:
- Atmanirbhar Bharat (Make In India – local manufacturing and to push for ‘Make for World’)
- Inspire Satat Bharat — Sanatan Bharat (Digital inclusivity in connecting nearly 6 lakh villages with optical fiber and sustainable development)
- Promote Samagra Bharat – Saksham Bharat (entrepreneurship & innovation)
- Sustainable development, entrepreneurship & innovation
- Drive foreign and local investments,
- Encourage R&D in the Telecom and Emerging Technology sectors
- Facilitate supportive regulatory & policy frameworks.
Key Points:
— PM Narendra Modi called to make India a global hub for telecom equipment, design, development and manufacturing by leveraging the near Rs 12,200 crore. These funds are recently approved by the government under the production-linked incentive (PLI) policy for local manufacturing of telecom.
- In November 2020, Cabinet cleared the PLI policy for telecom to achieve Rs 2 lakh-crore of production over the next five years.
–There is a need to form a task force to think of a better way of handling the electronic waste and create a circular economy as there is frequent replacing of handsets and gadgets.
–Government aims to bring high speed fibre-optic connectivity in every village over the next three years.
–Mobile technology will be used for the deployment of COVID-19 vaccine program.
–There is a need of working together for timely rollout of 5G.
–Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar hoped that India can become an important player by the time 6G services are introduced.
–BSNL in partnership with Skylo introduced worlds’ 1st satellite-based narrowband-IoT network in India
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in partnership with Skylotech India has launched the world’s first satellite-based NB-IoT (Narrow Band-Internet of Things) device that can be used PAN-India where mobile towers are not present including Indian seas.
- The device developed by Skylo will be provided only through the state-run firm at a price of around Rs 10,000 a unit.
- The square-shaped device can be carried by users across any part of the country and connect with their smartphones for two-way communication.
The solution is in line with BSNL’s vision to leverage technology to provide affordable and innovative telecom services and products across customer segments.
About Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL):
Establishment– 2000
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)– Pravin Kumar Purwar
Headquarter– New Delhi
About Skylo India:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Co-founder– Parthsarathi Trivedi
India Headquarter– Bengaluru, Karnataka
Headquarter– California, United States of America (USA)
–Vodafone Idea CSR arm, Nokia team up for SmartAgri solution
Nokia and Vodafone India Foundation, the CSR arm of Vi, have deployed a Smart Agriculture solution that aims to improve the productivity of farmers in India. The pilot project is being implemented in 100 locations in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and will benefit over 50,000 farmers.
- The solution, which utilizes Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) solution, will ensure that precise and practical data is sent to farmers.
- The app provides local language support as well as weather forecast and irrigation management information.
About Nokia:
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Pekka Lundmark
Headquarter– Espoo, Finland
–Nokia kicks off production of 5G equipment in India
Nokia announced the production of next generation 5G equipment at its manufacturing site in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Notably, Nokia was the first to manufacture the 5G New Radio in India, and it is now producing Nokia AirScale massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) solution.
- The equipment is already being exported to many countries which are in advanced stages of 5G deployment.
- The mMIMO based 5G products will have the latest 64-Transmit/64-Receive (64T64R) configuration. Massive MIMO is a key element of 5G technology that delivers high capacity, especially in densely populated locations.
–JIO to launch 5G service in 2nd half of 2021
Reliance’s Jio Platforms, the largest telecom operator in India, plans to roll out a 5G network in the country in the second half of 2021. It was announced by Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.
- However, India has yet to grant spectrum for 5G network to telecom networks in the country.
–Manufacturing, retail, auto hold highest potential of 5G adoption: Report
The report titled ‘TMT Industry CEO Outlook: Smart. Secure. Sustainable’ was launched by KPMG in India in association with IMC and industry body COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) at IMC 2020.
- In accordance with the report industrial manufacturing, retail and automotive are the top three areas expected to hold the highest potential in terms of 5G technology adoption and number of use cases.
- The report is based on a survey of 300 TMT (Technology, Media and Telecom) CEOs from India – a mix of executives from fortune 500 companies and startups.
- 61% of CEOs reported an earnings outlook of more than 10 per cent over the next three years.
–Day 3 of IMC culminates into Future of Digital Communication
The final day saw the discussions and speeches on the topic ‘Enterprises Connect – Smart, Secure, Sustainable’; ‘5G Policies and Spectrum – Spectrum and Regulatory Policies Impacting the Mobile Revolution in India’; ‘Open RAN – Revolutionizing the Open Access Network from Procurement to Performance’; ‘Make In India, Make for World’; ‘Shaping Sustainable Digital Future through Telecom and Technology’; ‘SDN + NFV – Building Smarter Networks for Resilience and Efficiency’; and ‘OTT and Content Play – Futureproofing OTT for India’.
Participants: 30+ participating countries, 210 speakers, 50+ thought leadership sessions, 150+ exhibitors, 3000+ CXO level delegates including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology, Anshu Prakash, IAS, Chairman DCC & Secretary (T), Department of Telecommunications, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited and Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.
About IMC:
It bringd together the industry, Government, academia, and other ecosystem players to discuss, deliberate and display the latest industry technology trends around major themes such as SG, Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of things (loT), Data Analytics, Cloud and Edge Computing, Open source tech, data privacy and cyber security, Smart Cities and automation.
Recent Related News:
i.On November 3, 2020 India hosted the 8th Meeting of the India-UAE(United Arab Emirates) High Level Joint Task Force on Investments(the Joint Task Force) virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was co-chaired by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Government of India and His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
ii.In order to attract investments in India, the Virtual Global Investor Roundtable (VGIR) 2020 conference was held virtually which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was organized by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.
About Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI):
Establishment – 1995
Headquarter– New Delhi
Chairman– Ajai Puri
