NEW DELHI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday pitched for India making the rollout of 5G or the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks as a national priority to support the digital revolution.
Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, he said India must complete the migration from 2G to 4G and 5G at the earliest.
"To keep millions of Indians at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid confined to 2G is to deprive them of the benefits of the digital revolution," he said.
Ambani, whose firm Reliance Jio in 2016 ushered in the revolution in cheaper mobile data and connectivity, said the rollout of 5G should be India's national priority.
"We should not lose sight of the fact that affordability has been a critical driver of the phenomenally rapid expansion of the mobile subscriber base in India. India should move towards greater digital inclusion, and not greater digital exclusion," he said.
Also, fibre connectivity should be completed across India on a mission mode, said Ambani, who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd.
The mobile industry will play a "vital" role in India's vision to be a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025, of which USD 1 trillion will be the contribution from the digital economy, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Wednesday.
Speaking at India Mobile Congress event, Birla asserted that a robust industry is necessary to invest and accelerate the achievement of Digital India vision.
The government has taken critical policy interventions over last few months, he noted and added that further steps in ease of doing business and support from the banking sector will "significantly enhance" the sector's strength and ensure that India remains at the cutting edge of global technology trends.
"Going forward, I believe that the mobile industry will be vital in achieving India's vision to be a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025, of which USD 1 trillion will be the contribution from the digital economy," Birla said.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday said the regulatory regime needs to be simple to avoid fresh litigations in the sector and pitched for a reduction in spectrum pricing and lower duties.
Addressing the India Mobile Congress event, Mittal noted that a lot of litigations remain in the telecom sector and added that new cases must be avoided.
"I would also like to request the government that one area where we need to lower the temperature of our industry is really the area of litigation, a lot of litigation still remains," Mittal observed.
Ongoing cases need to be settled, and new cases must be avoided, he said.
"We must have a regime, which is simple in its regulatory touch and does not create more litigations, going forward. This will release the energy of the industry," he said.
Mittal flagged the high duties in the sector and said the spectrum remains to be expensive.
He urged the government to look into these outstanding issues.
Mittal also asserted that although the industry competes in the market, there is a need to collaborate in various areas, such as towers and fibre.
"We need to start to talk to each other to co-build, like the world is doing, share more tower infrastructure, while we fiercely compete, we also collaborate and lower the cost structures for serving the most affordable tariffs anywhere in the world," Mittal said.