5G rollout should be India’s top priority, says Mukesh Ambani
Stressing on the importance of 5G rollout, Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, said it needs to be India’s top priority. He made the comments during a keynote at the ongoing India Mobile Congress. “During COVID, when the chips were down, it is the chipsets that kept us going,” he added, emphasizing the importance of technology and innovation in the post-COVID times.
Ambani went on to present his five ideas on the new theme – ‘Connectivity for the next Decade’. The five ideas revolve around adopting newer tech in the telecom and broadband sectors, as well as the affordability of both devices and services. Here are the five key pointers from his speech.
1. Migration from 2G to 5G
“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,” Ambani stated in his keynote. He went on to emphasize why India must complete its migration from 2G to 4G and 5G networks.
2. 5G rollout should be India’s top priority
Ambani also added that a wider rollout of 5G should be the country’s top priority right now. “Jio has developed a 100% home-grown and comprehensive 5G solution which is fully cloud-native and digitally managed,” he said, adding that “because of its converged, future-proof architecture, Jio’s network could be quickly and seamlessly upgraded from 4G to 5G.”
3. The affordability factor
Ambani also touched on the importance of affordability of newer technological advancements and how the affordability factor “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 added, stressing that the country needs to ensure not just the affordability of services but also that of devices and applications.
4. To be future-ready, India has to be Fibre-ready
“The world is now transitioning into a digital-first era when almost everything will be done in the digital space first, and then translated into the physical world,” Ambani added, bringing attention to the importance of fiber connectivity.
Ambani believes a wider adoption of the technology will enable India to outperform most other countries. He also added that the digital-first era will necessitate an increase in data carriage and fiber connectivity will be a much-needed step as this has almost unlimited data carriage capacity.
5. Right Frameworks and policies
Ambani added that beyond connectivity, India must also focus on “the critical components of the digital eco-system,” including a sound regulatory and policy framework. He also pointed at India’s energy systems needing a radical transformation.
“Technologies are maturing for energy saving through smart grids, decarbonization of the economy, and a drastic reduction in the cost of India’s transition to clean and green energy,” he said.
