NEW DELHI:Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Tuesday said that India will be all set to roll-out a new policy for high-speed 5G connectivity by June this year. Sundararajan, who was speaking at an event organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), also said that India wants to take a lead position in adopting 5G technology and expanding high-speed systems.
5G, Sundarajan said, was very important in aiding India’s large-scale “digitisation and digitalisation” efforts. “The government is working with all stakeholders… A high-level forum on 5G which includes global experts, industry experts, IITs, IISc, has already commenced work and done a fair amount of deliberation. By June, India will have full roadmap ready on this,” she said.
The forum is currently deliberating on the vision, goals, and the details of the 5G roadmap, while also looking at several other related areas of spectrum policy, regulatory regime and pilot programmes.
“I wonder whether we are correct in calling 5G as next generation. It represents the next order of capabilities and the capabilities that it will unleash, are transformative,” she said.
While India lagged behind in the implementation of the earlier generations of mobile and data networks like 2G, 3G and 4G technology, Sundararajan stated that it does not want to get similarly left behind in 5G and, in fact, would like to push the global momentum around 5G through design capabilities, innovation and ability to build affordable solutions.