Taking India’s digital transformation and connectivity to new heights, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today launched 5G services in India. He also unveiled various 5G use cases of various Telecom Service Providers in Education, Health, worker safety, smart agriculture etc. Earlier, he also launched indigenous 5G NSA Core developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (CDoT) and witnessed various technology demonstrations of enterprise 5G solutions, chipsets, networking equipment developed by Indian telecom start-ups, MSMEs and large manufacturers. This brings harmony with the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’, Jai Anusandhan and ‘ Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas’.
This milestone unlocks huge possibilities for India with high-tech technology and paves the way to bring transformation in crucial areas including agriculture, health, education, Transport, logistics, smart cities, Industry 4.0 and financial inclusion etc. 5G technology will bolster and propel India’s position as an economic and tech powerhouse globally and will provide new opportunities for start-ups to come up with innovative solutions to solve existing challenges, create jobs and contribute to India’s economic resilience.
The 04 pillars of Digital India –
1. Cost of Devices – With AatmaNirbhar Bharat the cost of devices can be reduced to a large extent. In the year 2014 there were 02 mobile manufacturing units in the country, whereas presently there are 200 manufacturing units. India is now at second position in the world for manufacturing of mobile and is also a large exporter of mobiles.
2. Digital Connectivity – Country has made a huge progress; in 2014 there were 6 cr Broadband users which has now increased to 80 crore users. Approx 100 GPs were connected with OFC in the country and now more than 1,70,000 GPs in the country are connected with OFC. Internet users in the rural areas of the country are growing at a faster rate than the urban area.
3. Cost of Data – The cost of data has reduced from Rs. 300 per GB in 2014 to Rs. 10 per GB in 2022. Average Data used per person is 14 GB per month, and reduction in cost of data has brought considerable savings per month for citizens.
4. Idea of Digital First – Many people carried the opinion that the rural poor of this country will not be able to adopt the digital technology, but the citizens, particularly the rural people, have made these assumptions wrong. Rural India is fast adopting the digital technologies and internet in their daily lives.
During the COVID period when people thought that the life and economy would nearly stop, India provided much needed support to the needy on one click of a button, Doctors used tele-medicine to treat patients and internet reached to the remotest corners for enabling education and to support work from home for the office goers. Digital India has provided a Stage and Market to the people of the country, wherein they can showcase their products and reach new markets.
The Government has a vision to provide the electricity, water and cooking gas to every household in the country, similarly the Government has committed to provide Internet to all and provided policy support for 4G saturation to all villages.
Government has made a number of policy and regulatory changes to bring transparency and reduce uncertainty in the Telecom sector. It is said that India could not capitalize the previous 03 industrial revolutions, however we would not only capitalize the industry 4.0, but would lead the world.
The 5G services in India were launched at the inaugural ceremony of IMC 2022 which is being jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). Under the leadership of Prime Minister and with combined efforts, India has achieved phenomenal success in the digital revolution to empower society and position itself as a global economic powerhouse. Being hailed as ‘Techade of India’, it is standing at the cusp of a tech revolution. With the induction of 5G technology, India’s digital infrastructure will become resilient and unravel huge socio-economic benefits.
The Prime Minister exhorted Central Ministries, State Governments and private sector to tap various 5G use cases to enhance citizen services, accelerate employment opportunities and raise productivity and efficiency.
The Prime Minister visited the various pavilions of TSPs, Industries and Startups and keenly watched the Innovative use cases displayed by them. He saw Connected Ambulance (Emergency healthcare), Community Clinic (Mass healthcare / treatment), Remote Ultrasound Robot Demo (remote healthcare) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) for Rural Broadband Connectivity.
One of the exhibitor company showed the dashboard of indigenously developed 5G core for public networks (large networks). There are only a few counties which have developed a core suitable for public networks. Another display was of High Security Routers & AI based Cyber Threat Detection Platform.
C-DoT informed that it has successfully completed the pilot of indigenous 4G core and 4G Radio equipment of Tejas with BSNL. 5G NSA (Non-Stand Alone) core is installed in the BSNL network at Chandigarh. C-DoT’s indigenous partners VVDN, Wisig have developed 5G radio equipment to provide end to end solution along with C-DoT. C-DoT also demonstrated the 5G NSA call in the pavilion.
The Prime Minister also launched the indigenous C-DoT 5G NSA core.
He was shown the use of 5G technology driven automated guided vehicle (AGV) in Smart Manufacturing. The AGV is an autonomous robot useful for factories.
The Prime Minister viewed the smart ambulance connected with hospital. Over 52 diagnostic tests can be done in this smart ambulance. The test results can be sent in real time over the 5G network to the doctor at the hospital end for continuous support. This can also be used as a connected clinic for health services in rural and hilly areas.
He was shown Sewage Monitoring system with centralised dashboard about Sewage water level, flow, quality, presence of poisonous gases at a central place. Smart-Agri Programme which uses IoTs, HD Cameras and Drones was also shown.
He also inaugurated the India Mobile Congress (IMC 2022), Asia’s leading technology exhibition, with the theme “Encapsulate, Engage and Experience a New Digital Universe” at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The endeavours of IMC perfectly fall in line with the vision of Digital India and promoting Made-in-India technology to address the challenges in areas of commerce, healthcare, education, communication and financial inclusion. It seeks to highlight how 5G technology can improve quality and access to healthcare facilities by ensuring medical aid in remote areas, tele-health, specialised healthcare at primary care centres and connecting them to speciality hospitals. Moreover, in education, 5G is important for connecting schools in rural areas, providing remote education and digitalisation of curriculum. It can empower the agriculture sector and farmers with precision farming, livestock farming, aquaculture, crop pest control and agricultural land mapping with the use of real time data transfer, monitoring, automation and drone-based utilities.
The grand edition of IMC this year is showcasing products based on technology which are contributing to digital transformation and making communication, connection and commerce seamless. It aims to give first-hand experience of the latest technological advancements. IMC 2022 expects to witness the presence of around 70,000 participants, 7,000 CXO-level delegates, 300 speakers, and 350 exhibitors across 60+ sessions.
Since its inception, IMC has been actively promoting India’s strength and position as a global hub for manufacturing technology products. It is further highlighting the role of start-ups, small-scale industries in the new digital universe to deliver best in class service, equipment and applications. The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of IMC for bringing the digital ecosystem together and providing a great platform for dialogues and endeavours on digitalisation, technology, Nation building, industrial revolution and taking government services to doorsteps.
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RKJ/BK
