Telecom sector is a continuously evolving sector with high technological obsolescence. It has seen transformation from Wire-line to Mobile services, which has become lifeline of the people. Mobile services have also seen transformation from 2G to 3G to 4G to 5G and now 6G is in horizon.

In furthering the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister of Universal and Affordable connectivity, developing indigenous technology, developing telecom and semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, taking lead in 6G Technology, today, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology in presence of Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications announced,

• Formation of the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA), a collaborative platform consisting of public and private companies, academia, research institutions, and Standards development organizations.
• The website for Bharat6G Alliance was also launched, the link for the same is  https://bharat6galliance.com
• B6GA will forge coalitions and synergies with other 6G Global Alliances, fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange

In addition, with a grant of 240.51 crores under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF), two agreements were signed for projects,

• 6G THz Testbed with Orbital Angular Momentum(OAM) & Multiplexing through consortium of SAMEER, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati and IIT Patna
• Advance Optical Communication Test Bed with Consortium Members as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, Signalchip Innovations, Signaltron Systems Pvt Ltd, Sasmos het Technologies Ltd, SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd, ERNET India, Quanfluence Private Ltd, Sterlite Technologies Limited, Nav tech, Tejas network.

Further, Under DCIS (Digital Communication Innovation Square) ,

• Grant of  Rs. 48 crore to 66 Startups and MSMEs was also announced
•  75 Innovators were also felicitated by DoT for their remarkable contributions to the field, recognizing their outstanding achievements and dedication. Department of Telecommunications under DCIS Scheme has been funding such startups and MSMEs .
• Details of DCIS are available at https://dcis.dot.gov.in/

Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications stated India is a bright spot in the world’s economy, and the telecom sector is brightest spot in India and lauded the stakeholders for the efforts. He added, various citizen & industry centric reforms has led to  transparent spectrum auction of over 1.5 Lakh Crore in record time of 42 days and 2.70 lakh 5G sites in 9 months which is one of the fastest rollout in the world. He appreciated the efforts of the awardees , and also thanked contribution of all stakeholder that has led to indigenous design of 4G and 5G technology and mentioned that with Bharat6G Alliance , India shall now lead in 6G technology.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Communications, Railways and Electronics & IT, said that under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, in past nine years, various series of reforms, which include structural, procedural reforms and relief measures, have been undertaken for Telecom Sector that has led to transformation of Telecom Sector as a sunrise sector. He added that World is following the path of technology that India is following.  He mentioned that in past 9 years,

• Data cost has been reduced from Rs.300/GB in 2014 to Rs.10/GB in 2023
• The Right of Way permission which took 230 days has been reduced to 9 days
• BTS sites have been increased 4 times to 25 Lakh
• FDI in Telecom Sector has increased to 24 billion Dollar
• In 5G , India Telecom industry has clocked investment of over 2.25 Lakh cores
• Allocation of spectrum after the auction to TSPs was done in 24 hours
• BSNL has become a market stabilizer and is now making operating profits
• India is exporting technology to 12 countries including USA
• 4G footprint is now 99% and for remaining 38,000 crores has been put in to ensure 100% connectivity
• Over 2.7 lakh 5G tower have been installed almost at a rate of 1 Tower per minute making India among Top three 5G ecosystems in the World.
• Japan has aligned with India on Digital Payment system of India.
• Almost 1.5 lakh broadband connection have been provided in rural areas.
• Under PLI, over 1,600 crore investments has happened in Telecom Manufacturing
• Over 200 patents in 6G technology

He said, in consequence to Hon’ble Prime Minister visit to United States of America, India and USA shall co-create technology and the change shall be instrumental to Developed India. He also mentioned about the Semiconductor Mission wherein for Micron Technologies, Land Approval and Project approval has been done within two weeks of announcement and Ground Breaking ceremony for first chip manufacturing unit shall be done with in next 40- 45 days. Five (5) design companies have been given approval for chip design, out of which two shall be working in Telecom Sector. He also mentioned that India is developing Advance optical communication with zero latency that shall help in fields like Telemedical and Telesurgery. He further emphasized that Bharat 6G alliance shall provide a push for making India a leader in 6GTechnology and IPR.

Aligned with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call of adding Jan Anusandhaan in the new phase of Amrit Kaal, Government of India with support of startups, industry, academia, R&D institutes is relentlessly working towards ensuring digital and mobile inclusivity across the country and empowering of common citizens through last mile digital revolution and rapid proliferation of mobile and digital services.

Background

About Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA)

The primary objective of B6GA is to understand the business and societal needs of 6G beyond technology requirements, foster consensus on these needs, and promote high-impact open research and development (R&D) initiatives.

B6GA aims to bring together Indian startups, companies, and the manufacturing ecosystem to establish consortia that drive the design, development and deployment of 6G technologies in India. By accelerating standards-related patent creation within the country and actively contributing to international standardization organizations such as 3GPP and ITU, B6GA seeks to position India at the forefront of 6G innovation.

One of the key goals of B6GA is to facilitate market access for Indian telecom technology products and services, enabling the country to emerge as a global leader in 6G technology. To achieve this, These efforts shall promote technology ownership and indigenous manufacturing, create a culture of technology co-innovation, reduce imports, boost export opportunities and augment creation of Intellectual Property.

About Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF)

Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme was launched by DoT/USOF on 01.10.2022. 5% of annual collections from USOF will be available for TTDF Scheme for funding research & development of technologies, products, and services. The scheme is envisaged to bridge digital divide by developing and manufacturing state-of-the-art technologies and to form synergies among academia, start-ups, research institutes, and the industry to build and develop the telecom ecosystem

The Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme entails grants to Indian entities to encourage and induct indigenous technologies tailor-made to meet domestic needs. Under the TTDF scheme, USOF, DoT is also targeting to develop standards to meet countrywide requirements and create the ecosystem for research, design, prototyping, use cases, pilots, and proof of concept testing, among others.

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RKJ/DK