India's tremendous opportunity in advancing 6G technology discussed at IMC 2024

Telecom industry leaders discussed India’s tremendous opportunity in advancing 6G technology at the 8th edition of India Mobile Congress in New Delhi. While inaugurating the International 6G Symposium at the event, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted India’s ambition to lead global 6G innovation.

The Minister emphasised that the country, having successfully implemented one of the fastest 5G rollouts, is now ready to build the future of 6G with standards that are affordable, accessible, and inclusive for everyone. He underscored the significance of cybersecurity and India's potential to assist in the development of 6G legislation.

Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, DoT, said that India is becoming a focal point for global innovation in technologies. The IMC and the ITU-WTSA are playing crucial roles in showcasing products, setting standards, and driving collaboration, said Mittal, adding, “As a leader in the 6G Alliance, India aims to collaborate with partners to advance research, standardization, and public-private partnerships. Joint research efforts, policy harmonization, and the development of skilled manpower are key priorities. Through these initiatives, India seeks to position itself as a global leader in 6G technology and drive innovation and development.”

N. G. Subramaniam, Chairman, Bharat 6G Alliance, said, “Although the future is difficult to predict, we will witness seamless connections between humans and machines and various other devices if we keep connecting the dots with ceaseless innovations. Undoubtedly, we are gauging humongous possibilities with the emerging digital and communication technologies. However, for this, a reliable, secure, and trusted next-gen network is essential to bring these ideas to a consequence and improve the overall quality of life on Earth. We at Bharat 6G Alliance are visualizing this future by working closely with the academia, TSPs, R&D organizations, and OEMs. Together we will define the future comprising technical innovations and expert innovations and this will empower people at large. This 6G symposium will bring together experts to nurture and open collaborative research and innovation possibilities.”

The second day of IMC 2024 witnessed the launch of Telecom Smart Cities Index by Opensignal. The Opensignal’s Indian Cities Digital Readiness Ranking (ICDRR) assesses 50 Indian cities’ mobile infrastructure, highlighting their readiness for smart city transformation through 4G/5G Availability, Consistent Quality, and Overall Download Speeds. The top five ranked cities in India are Srinagar, Agra, Faridabad, Jaipur, and Patna.

The day also saw a workshop with academicians of 5G test labs and included discussions on enhancing indigenous 5G network for 5G+/6G standard, role of enterprise private networks, network transformation with 5G/5G+ and applications for enterprise verticals, industrial 5G use cases and live demos done by 5G ACIA in their test beds. The leaders deliberated on 5G (IOT) Use cases in industries, healthcare, smart grids, agriculture, education, among others.

The day also featured important sessions and panels which included: Supercharging India through Equitable AI, Future unveiled: Key insights for the new techade, Securing the Digital realm: Enhancing cyber defense, Techos pioneering the future of private networks, AI driving Autonomous networks of the future (Part A), AI-enhanced processing : The future of Chipsets, Navigating Gen AI: Advances challenges and opportunities, Future Digital Infrastructure for Viksit BHARAT, Smart Cities Index Launch, The Expanding Role of Telecom Service Providers in Ensuring Cybersecurity, Satellite Communication: The Pulse of a Digital Nation, Decarbonizing for a Sustainable Digital Future.

Concurrent to IMC 2024, India is also hosting the prestigious international conferences - World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly New Delhi 2024 (WTSA 2024) and Global Standards Symposium (GSS 2024) from October 14-24 at Pragati Maidan itself.