5G will contribute $450 bn in revenue over 15 yrs: PM
Modi unveils 5G test beds, says nation has moved on from 2G era of corruption
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for collaborative efforts between the government and the industry for rapid roll-out of 5G services. He said that the services will contribute $450 billion to the economy in the next 15 years.
While speaking at an event organised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), he said: “5G will bring positive changes to governance, ease of living and ease of doing business. This will boost growth in every sector. Over the next decade and half, 5G will contribute $450 billion through economic growth and job creation,” Modi said.
He added that the country should be ready to launch 6G by the end of the decade and a task force has been formed for its roll-out.
“While the 2G era was symptomatic of policy paralysis and corruption, India has now moved rapidly from 3G to 4G, and now 5G and 6G,” Modi said. He highlighted his government's success in winning the trust of investors by effectively responding to challenges which resulted in increased foreign investment in the telecom sector.
The PM said that every village in the country has optical fibre. He added that before 2014, even 100 village panchayats in India didn’t have optical fibre. “Today, we have broadband connectivity in 175,000 gram panchayats. Villages are able to avail a number of government services because of this,” Modi said.
“5G WILL BRING POSITIVE CHANGES TO GOVERNANCE, EASE OF LIVING AND EASE OF DOING BUSINESS. THIS WILL BOOST GROWTH IN EVERY SECTOR”
PM NARENDRA MODI
He also called upon TRAI to be ready to meet future challenges. “Today, regulation is not limited to the boundaries of just one sector. Technology is connecting different sectors. That's why everyone is experiencing the need for collaborative regulation. For this, it is necessary that all the regulators come together, develop common platforms and find solutions for better coordination”, the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, PM Modi unveiled the country’s first 5G test beds, developed by eight institutions led by IIT Madras. Developed with a funding of ~224 crore, the test beds will enable companies to test and validate their products, services and use cases.
While the integrated test bed is situated in Chennai, there are four other test facilities in Kanpur, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
“Our scientists and engineers have developed a complete 4G stack which is ready for deployment by BSNL, and the 5G stack is in an advanced stages of development and should be ready later this year,” Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said.
Bhaskar Ramamurthi, former director of IIT Madras who is the key architect of the project, said the testbed is a fully deployable system. He added that over 300 engineers had worked on developing the test beds.