For India to lead in 6G, youngsters need to create applications: COAI DG

Youngsters will need to create applications to make India the leader in 6G technology, in line with the Prime Minister's ambition, a senior telecom industry body official said on Friday.

Speaking at the 7th edition of the India Mobile Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is not only expanding the 5G network in the country but will also take the lead in 6G.

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"If India is to become a leader in 6G, in line with the PM's ambitions, the youngsters must create applications and integrate these with the networks," COAI Director General S P Kocchar said at the event.

Cellular Operators' Association of India members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, etc.

He said India is doing well in policy and regulations and making advances in the financial aspect on 5G and 6G, but deriving applications is an area where the sector is lacking. 

"We have to build international standard 6G infrastructure and the standardisation work has started with a bang... the road map has been laid out and the government is taking the lead, with support from the industry," Kocchar said.

Kochhar said there is large traffic logging into telecom networks and there are few platforms that are contributing to this big data consumption. 

"We are seeking a fair share from these companies as they are not paying anything for network use but have thrived on it. This is leading to a situation in which telecom companies are not able to garner returns on their investments at the same time," Kocchar said.

Internet companies and industry bodies have been opposing the proposal to charge revenue share from apps.

Kocchar said a forward-looking approach needs to be adopted wherein all stakeholders benefitting from the networks contribute responsibly towards its upkeep and advancement. 

Speaking during a panel discussion, Ericsson Head Cloud Software and Services Ludvig Landgren said 5G has changed the game in terms of rolling out the network and affordability.

"Considering accessibility, 5G is driving transformation in India, in terms of the amount of deployment. In one year, we have 100 million 5G subscribers, which no other market has achieved.

"The advancement, driven through collaboration between the industry and academia, is amazing," he said.

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