RedCap can play a critical role in shaping India’s digital future

With over 28 years of experience in the telecom industry, Randeep Singh Sekhon currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Airtel India and South Asia. Under his leadership, Airtel has become one of the top three mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. From overseeing technology strategy and network innovation to driving digitisation and ensuring seamless rollout of 5G, Randeep plays a critical role in shaping Airtel’s technological advancements. Before this, he was the CEO of Hutchison Tri Indonesia, where he successfully led a customer-centric and digital transformation journey.

In this exclusive interview with Shubhendu Parth, he delves into the emergence of RedCap technology, its potential to revolutionise IoT in India, and how it will shape the future of 5G in sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and smart cities. He also discusses the integration of RedCap into Airtel’s existing infrastructure and the role it will play in bridging the digital divide across the country. Excerpts:

RedCap is emerging as a solution for IoT and low-power devices. How do you see its adoption shaping up in India?

The introduction of RedCap, or reduced-capability devices, by 3GPP, marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the 5G ecosystem. This technology is designed to leverage 5G’s wide-scale deployments with fewer functionalities, offering an optimal balance between performance, cost, and power consumption. RedCap broadens the scope of 5G, making it more accessible for IoT and low-power devices, bridging the gap between cost and performance for delivering broadband IoT services.

The potential for RedCap in India is immense. Since the launch of 4G, India has made great strides in its digital transformation, and the rapid expansion of 5G provides the infrastructure that RedCap can seamlessly integrate with. This technology will not only strengthen India’s digital economy but also drive significant innovation in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and smart cities.

To give you an idea, RedCap can support video transmission for traffic monitoring and security cameras in smart cities, enhancing urban safety. Wearables like smartwatches, smart glasses, and health sensors will enable better patient care in healthcare. In manufacturing, industrial wireless sensors powered by RedCap can monitor machinery conditions such as temperature, pressure, and vibration, improving operational safety and efficiency. Even connected cars and drones will benefit from this technology, supporting a wide range of applications like infotainment, real-time maps, and remote video transmission, showcasing the versatility of RedCap.

Airtel has conducted successful trials of RedCap devices in collaboration with Ericsson, demonstrating the technology’s potential within our network.

Overall, the technology is not just another innovation but a game-changer poised to play a critical role in shaping India’s digital future by addressing unmet needs and creating new opportunities across both B2B and B2C segments.

Given the increasing demands on existing 5G networks, how do you plan to integrate RedCap into your current infrastructure? What challenges do you foresee in maintaining network efficiency while catering to RedCap devices?

RedCap is designed to seamlessly extend the 5G Standalone (SA) network, allowing us to cater to a broad spectrum of use cases on a single network. Both, the Radio Access Network (RAN) and core network will support RedCap devices alongside normal 5G devices. Spectrum and network capacities can be dynamically shared based on traffic demand and device profiles, ensuring optimal efficiency. Extensive studies in 3GPP have confirmed that RedCap devices can coexist with standard 5G devices with minimal impact on overall system performance.

Airtel has already conducted successful trials of RedCap devices in collaboration with Ericsson, demonstrating the technology’s potential within our existing network. With its introduction, we can support Broadband IoT more efficiently and cost-effectively.

We are also exploring using 5G network slicing to create dedicated virtual networks for RedCap devices, ensuring that specific KPIs and SLAs can be met when required. This will enable us to optimise resource allocation for different use cases, ensuring that RedCap integrates smoothly while maintaining the overall network performance.

RedCap offers a new category of devices with lower data rates and reduced complexity. How do you envision monetising this technology, and what business models might evolve around RedCap in the Indian market?

The global cellular IoT market has grown to around 1.9 billion devices, largely supported by 4G-based IoT technologies. However, projections by Omdia, ABI Research, and others indicate that this number is expected to exceed 5 billion by 2030, with 5G-based IoT accounting for more than 70% of the share. RedCap, being one of the key enablers of 5G IoT, will play a crucial role in this expansion.

While we are still in the early stages of cellular IoT adoption in India, the progress in technologies like NB-IoT and 4G-based IoT sets a strong foundation for RedCap’s success. Its unique capability to serve new use cases, especially in wearables and smart mobility, will drive its adoption in the B2C segment. In the B2B space, industries will increasingly rely on advanced IoT solutions powered by RedCap for digital operations and maintenance, utilising high-traffic sensors and monitoring devices. The private 5G space also holds exciting potential for RedCap’s growth, where dedicated 5G networks can be optimised for IoT.

We must actively develop the RedCap ecosystem to realise this vision and address any roadblocks hindering its mass adoption.

Security becomes a critical concern with RedCap enabling a wide range of IoT devices. How are you addressing the security implications associated with this technology? Do you see a need for India-specific standards or guidelines for RedCap deployments?

Security is one of our top priorities, and with RedCap, we have ensured that security is not compromised despite the devices’ reduced capabilities. RedCap leverages the robust 5G infrastructure, including advanced encryption algorithms for data protection and rigorous authentication and authorisation mechanisms to ensure that only trusted devices access the network.

We believe that all consumer IoT devices should meet the requirements set out in ETSI EN 303 645 to provide a minimum-security baseline. Some of the key practices that need to be followed for RedCap devices include secure boot, over-the-air updates to address vulnerabilities, and the use of secure hardware components.

In India, developing industry-specific security guidelines is essential to ensure consistent security practices. Organisations like TSDSI can play a key role in developing these standards and ensuring interoperability.

RedCap holds significant promise, but there are concerns about its long-term viability and scalability. What potential risks or limitations do you foresee with this technology?

RedCap is undoubtedly one of the most exciting technologies under the 5G umbrella, bridging the gap between low-capacity IoT use cases, traditionally supported by 4G, and the high-capacity scenarios enabled by standard 5G devices. Looking ahead, we expect RedCap to evolve further, including its ability to operate on non-terrestrial networks and expand its reach and opportunities.

However, one potential risk is the delayed realisation of cost efficiencies in the terminal ecosystem, which could slow adoption in price-sensitive markets like India. Nonetheless, RedCap’s unique capabilities for broadband IoT are expected to drive adoption over the next 3-5 years.

To promote wider adoption of IoT and RedCap, we need active industry collaboration among network operators, device manufacturers, solution providers, and government agencies. Local ecosystem development, skills enhancement in 5G and IoT, and regulatory support for RedCap deployment will also be critical factors in its success.

RANDEEP SINGH SEKHON

Chief Technology Officer, Bharti Airtel

shubhendup@cybermedia.co.in