Making a statement
Panju Ganguli

Making a statement

Telecom transcends and merges with digital technology
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Since inception in the last decade, a popular perception around the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) is that the platform is meant for the government and other stakeholders to make statements to the world that India’s telecom- and technology-aligned sectors are moving at a rapid pace. And the recently concluded 2025 version was no different.  

During its initial years, the event’s major draw was the grand photo ops comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chiefs of India’s leading telcos, such as Reliance, Airtel and IDEA, during the inaugural session. But regulars will tell you that, in the past eight years since its beginning, its strategic importance has increased with the swift addition of new components. They reflect the big-bang churning in the market, where telecom has become a more potent tool to help create the gigantic digital edifice -- a global imperative, where every country in the right condition seems to be making moves and, in that context, the IMC (backed by the Cellular Operators Association and the government) tells the world what all is happening or poised to happen in the world’s largest telecom market by volume. The government has been quite keen to showcase not only the results of its digital emphasis but also underline what lies ahead. And, even during the peak of Corona troubles after 2020, this show was organised twice in a virtual format.

Now, cut to this year’s edition which concluded recently. It has its set of major takeaways, especially in terms of drawing a future scenario. Prime Minister Modi, who inaugurated the event, used the opportunity to underline the country’s remarkable progress in the technology sector, which is helping in moving towards grand objectives of an ‘atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’. “The country is moving forward in every dimension,” was his key message. Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasised on how India has become the ‘digital flag bearer of the world’ and future possibilities are going to be more exciting. To buttress his point, Scindia mentioned India building the world’s largest Digital Highway, which is now connecting millions of people.

To a significant extent, the activities at the IMC confirmed the ‘big ticket opportunities ready to unfold’ message. For instance, IMC 2025 featured India’s first-ever Satcom Summit, which had the core theme -- ‘space networks for universal connectivity’. It brought together policymakers and industry leaders (both domestic and international) to discuss ways and means to consolidate India’s digital moves and make it more inclusive. Another major takeaway was the concrete indications of 6G trials being set afoot soon. Under the aegis of IMC, another show – International Bharat6G Symposium 2025 – was organised, which saw the participation of some of the biggest global names in the sphere.

As expected, the event saw an overwhelming presence of start-ups showcasing their innovations to support the evolving digital eco-system.  Another major takeaway was the launch of several new products reflecting consistent innovation happening in the space. For instance, MediaTek displayed its Dimensity 9500 flagship chipset, which promises enhanced power, AI and gaming efficiency and is particularly designed for the next gen 5G smartphones. There were a host of new solutions presented, which have been developed by the domestic firms. Tejas Networks presented its Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) technology, which has taken eight years in development. The launch of Reliance Jio’s ‘JioBharat Safety Net Phones’ (with safety-first features for children, elderly and dependents, including location monitoring, usage manager, etc, priced at just R799) offering was a major highlight of the event, while Ericsson demonstrated a 5G-enabled Grain Automated Teller Machine (ATM) called Annapurti. The machine has been developed to support ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme. This time, government-owned BSNL too was quite vocal in sharing its plans saying that its 5G pilot trials are over and it will be rolled out soon. A telecom monolith till recently, it also drew attention with the display of its innovations like AI Vani Avatar and Metaverse Zone aligned with the imagination of a Digital Bharat.

While India’s rapid roll-out of 5G has received kudos from the international community and the recently concluded IMC has reinforced the perception that the country is in the front league of digital adoption on a global basis, the opportunity to make the game bigger is tied to some immediate imperatives (pointed out by several experts). For instance, the country needs a new legal foundation for the digital age and more stringent implementation of cyber security regime. These will be the big challenges or next frontiers on the quality side, as telecom has transcended and merged with the larger digital technology.

Business India
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