As India moves closer to the digital revolution, Chairman for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), R.S. Sharma confirms reports about the industry striding its way towards adoption of 5G networks and Internet of Things (IoT) within the country.
The association is reputed for providing consultation services to stakeholders, which includes rolling out recommendations to the government based on their market observations. TRAI plans to soon release consultation papers, prior to the framing of policies and standard governing the rollout of these technologies.
Mr. Sharma expresses his concern regarding incentivization of these technologies, and mentions TRAI’s next step includes preparation of a timetable with a to-do list, which will help the onboarding process for these technologies. Around the world, 5G trials are being held, and Ericsson AB, Orange SA, Verizon Communications, Google and Samsung Electronics are some of the companies leading the transformation. TRAI recognized this drive and is taking major strides to adopt 5G within India.
The rapid adoption of these technologies has become mandatory to stay ahead of the market competition. IoT will assist the Indian market by helping them connect, communicate, and administer processes by leveraging a chain of intelligent and identifiable devices, appliances, equipment, and machinery. Escalation in the number of sensors utilized will directly implicate in introduction of smart vehicles and smart appliances, which will in turn set an IoT ecosystem in motion.
Simultaneously, 5G transcends beyond the scope of a mobile broadband that delivers higher bandwidth, to usher the next generation of IP growth across all layers in the network, and enforces collaboration across several industry verticals. From a government perspective, the step will give them another chance at selling 700 mega hertz (MHz) airwaves, ideally suited for 5G services, given the fact that last auction for the spectrum band saw zero buyers.
Mr. Sharma is known to have contracted controversy earlier for his stand on net neutrality and call drops. He expresses the significance of comprehending regulatory or legal barriers to growth of such a sector, from a stakeholder’s perspective. Government had earlier commissioned a research team to study the 5G technology. The team has so far filed 100 patents, of which 100 have been successfully granted.
Picking pace from earlier successful events on LTE India, Bharat Exhibitions plans to spin the first edition of a solely 5G technology-dedicated event, to be commenced on 12th of May, 2017. The event will witness participation from some of the key players working in the telecom sector. The event shall chiefly concentrate on painting a picture of the challenges that deter the traffic growth, besides exploring opportunities to obtain return on 5G infrastructure investments.
