Transformatory Telecom Revolution

Telecom revolution has created a new way of life which is richly empowered and all-inclusive and designed to benefit every citizen of India, with 5G in sight on the horizon.

4G Revolution

The digital revolution with 3G network rollouts in the early part of this decade got a shot-in-the-arm with the rollout of 4G networks about two years back. India has seen some exponential growth of data consumption on mobile handsets, riding on content creation and consumption enabled because of one of the lowest data rates offered by Indian Telcom Operators. Another evident behavioral change has been the proliferation of online payments and the growth of E-commerce. devices like Reliance JIO 4G feature phones have made data accessible to the masses who were till now not digitally connected.

The digital divide appears to be slowly vanishing. The Government’s focus and drive ensure that society does not just transform but metamorphoses. For that they formulated the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018, which will further unlock the transformative power of digital communication networks, improving the lives and livelihood of the masses.

The initiatives that the policy outlines are:

• Broadband for all

• Enhancing India’s contribution to global value chains and

• Creation of additional jobs

Services rendered by the Telecom sector are already creating a new way of life which is richly empowered and all-inclusive and designed to benefit every citizen of India. The Government’s drive to roll out 5G will further enhance the digital revolution by creating more seamless experiences, while at the same time creating more jobs, more start-ups, more unicorns, not just influencing India but also the globe.

One which we will very well relate to is content consumption and creation, by which, essentially I mean video which has really become a key digital driver and also something that has helped telcos drive towards greater customer retention and expansion. With internet penetration reach touching about 500 million users, a number of digital drivers will now be visible such as digital payments, E-commerce, online education, remote medicine, etc.

5G - Telecom Revolution

Another major transformation that telecom revolution will bring is 5G, which would fuel not just more uses with smartphones, but would transform enterprises and industries, agriculture, healthcare, automobiles, and banking. The full scope of changes it will bring is not something we will be able to entirely determine at this stage, as the industry continues to discover new use cases for this technology.

Companies associated with content creation, be it visual, gaming, interactive, will surely see major transformation. Automotive industry through V2X (vehicle-to-everything) will also be a major beneficiary of this transformation.

— Rajan Vagadia, MD, Qualcomm India

If we are thinking here industries, I think manufacturing comes first to our mind from an enterprise point of view and for consumers, it is certainly content, as I mentioned earlier. Companies associated with content creation, be it visual, gaming, interactive, will surely see major transformation. Automotive industry through V2X (vehicle-to-everything) will also be a major beneficiary of this transformation.

We have to adopt change. We can no longer wait and watch. India is well positioned to close the gap by the implementation of the transition to the next ‘G’i.e., 5G. 4G networks will be of great leverage, co-existing, as is happening across the world. 

Rajan Vagadia

The author is MD, Qualcomm India