Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat Prime Minister Modi recently asked the stakeholders to join hands for a faster roll out of next generation 5G technology across India. He said new telecom revolution under 5G network would empower millions of Indians. When PM Modi talks about empowerment of all Indians, doesn’t this include people of Jammu & Kashmir as well who are even denied the 4G mobile internet for last almost 1 ½ years. During the inauguration of India Mobile Congress on December 8th which was done through a virtual mode PM Modi said : “We need to work together to ensure a timely roll out of 5G to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of Indians,”. Don’t we also need to get empowered ? On one hand Prime Minister emphasis on every village to be connected through the high-speed optical fibre network, but when we see in J&K , the worst sufferers are the people living in villages who don’t even get the fixed line 4G internet connection. The students from rural areas stil
Reiterating the US view on risks posed by Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei, Pai highlighted that the world needed to collaborate for industry-led innovation in 5G in areas such as Open RAN to facilitate secure networks and reduce dependency on traditional telecom network equipment providers.
Synopsis Jio said the company is fully prepared for 5G, however, director general of the COAI points out the poor financial health of the other two members – Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel – said telcos must weigh in on 5G use-cases in rural areas before investing huge capital to generate a meaningful return.
The divergent views mirrored the comments of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Jio’s parent Reliance Industries, and Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel a day earlier.
Reliance Jio and an association of telecom operators were in opposite camps over the issue of 5G readiness at an event on Wednesday.