Booming Digital Economy
Vishrut A.
Alumni- IMT Hyderabad | Management Trainee -O2C at G4S India | Tally Essentials Level 1 "A" grade | Tally Essentials Level 2 "A+" grade | Tally Essentials Level 3 certified
Research conducted by Ericsson, Arthur D Little, and Chalmers University of Technology found that a doubling in broadband speed in an economy facilitates a 0.3% increase in GDP. Bharat has been emerging as a shining example of this by showing one of the highest GDP growth figures worldwide in recent years in tandem with the three-fold increase in its median broadband speeds. The Government of India has been pushing for universal internet access, digitisation of business processes, and self-reliance in digital infrastructure as hallmarks of a developed country. To this end, the Indian Mobile Congresses are one such initiative held annually for delivering much-needed shots in the arm to the Indian startup ecosystem and telecom sector to embolden budding new-age entrepreneurs.?
Growing footprint of 5-G in the Indian economy
Of note, the Sixth Mobile Congress (2022) had announced rolling out 5-G broadband in India. 5-G is currently the highest broadband spectrum used worldwide, and India has built the third-largest 5-G internet ecosystem in the world through a massive infrastructure ramp-up by telecommunication companies, facilitated by the Government of India. In the recently held Seventh Indian Mobile Congress, it was highlighted that there are now five lakh stations across seven hundred districts facilitating twelve crore users of 5-G broadband out of sixty crore users of high-speed internet in India today.?
The improvement in connectivity heralded by the two major players in the telecom sector, Airtel and Jio, have made internet speed in India rank 43rd in the world, from the previous 118th position. More such investment is expected by the market leaders in expanding the capacity of their infrastructure, for catering to a fast-growing user base.
Ericsson, a leading provider of telecommunication hardware, projects that by 2027, India will have 700 million 5-G users, and nationwide high-speed internet access.
Leading players and their technologies
In the recently held edition of the Indian Mobile Congress inaugurated on 28 October 2023, both the telecom giants presented satellite internet transmission technologies that would provide connectivity far and wide to the most remote regions of the nation without building new towers, a much-needed push towards universal internet access. As much of India still dwell in rural regions, especially those where building infrastructure is not feasible, providing access to internet through satellite unlocks this larger user base.
In light of the recent security concerns flagged by the Indian and US Governments on telecom hardware manufactured by Huawei, local production has become a pre-requisite for the growth in the telecom sector and increased digitalisation of the Indian economy.?
To address the need for an indigenous telecom equipment sector, production-linked incentive schemes by the Government of India have led to 42 telecom equipment companies to emerge and develop indigenous hardware, which have reported record "sales of Rs. 34 516 crores, export value of Rs. 7600 crore and generated 17 753 jobs" according to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav.?
What are the 5-G labs, how will they help
One of the most major announcements made by the Prime Minister in the Seventh Indian Mobile Congress was that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will be installing 100 5-G use case labs in higher education institutions. The establishment of the labs is aimed at achieving multiple objectives. These include: skilling in various fields relating to telecom technology, dispensing test access to startups and MSMEs, ideating 5-G use cases for diverse fields such as education, mining, tourism, and e-governance, cybersecurity, and most importantly, developing 6-G broadband.?
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Conclusion
India has all the positive numbers and ambition to latch onto a leading position in a dynamic and fast-growing digital world. The increased access to 5-G broadband, and rapidly spreading access to 4-G/5-G compatible handsets indicate a fast-growing, and highly monetisable telecom market. The growing capabilities of the telecom and telecom hardware sectors to address this rising demand make them potentially globally competitive and capable of building the successive 6-G ecosystem. These could make India a sought-after source of transmission technology, not just a lucrative market.?
Together with rising high-speed connectivity and indigenous sources of hardware, an aspiration being realised is the dawn of Industry 5.0 across all three components of the economy: agriculture, manufacturing, and services, which would make India fit the definition of a developed country in the later years of this century.