IMC 2024 | Industry calls for global collaboration for 6G, India taking a lead

The 8th Edition of Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024, the largest telecom, media and technology forum in Asia, jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), entered the 3rd day showcasing use cases, display of sustainable tech solutions and the integration of blockchain across businesses.

The 3rd day witnessed a panel of industry trailblazers on 'Revolutionizing Content Creation in India: Leveraging AI and Digital Platforms to Reach the Next Billion Users', with Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Hon’ble Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India, Rajiv Makhni, Sahiba Bali, Naman Deshmukh and Mehak Kasbekar. The discussion saw a deep dive into the future of digital content and innovative strategies to engage a growing audience.

Further demonstrating this year's theme of "The Future is Now", the third day also saw the breakfast meeting of Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, with prominent CTOs from leading global companies on the theme ‘Technology's next frontier: Leadership for a connected tomorrow’. The CTO Breakfast meeting witnessed thought provoking discussions addressing ways to develop new age technologies and foster last mile connectivity across India. The CTOs shared ideas and best practices from across the world that can redefine and refine the telecom landscape of India.

Third day featured important sessions and panels which included: Winning in the AI revolution, From Principles to Practices: AI for tomorrow, Unlocking Revenue Streams with Scalable Network as a Service, The 5G Impact: Has it truly Touched Everyone, Driving Business Forward: Harnessing 5G use cases in enterprise, Balancing digital demand: Ensuring level play for Telecom networks, Personalized, Safe, and Sustainable: The Smart Mobility Frontier, Emerging Trends and Technologies in Broadcasting Sector, Skilling for Connected Future - Connecting the Un-Connected, From Blueprint to Reality: Electronics Manufacturing Vanguard, Exploring 5G Opportunities for Industry 4.0, among others.

Alan Norman, Public Policy Director, Meta Platforms said, “Meta’s focus is on building the future of human connections. We have over 4 billion users across the globe, not just on Facebook but also on Instagram, WhatsApp and many other applications. We are working on enhancing the immersive experiences for users through augmented virtual reality by giving people a sense of being somewhere they aren’t actually there. The two breakthrough developments by Meta in this field include the Quest 3 virtual reality headset and the Xtadium app, which are helping in enhancing the broadcast experience for customers.”

Salil Khanna, SLG Head (Enterprise), Reliance Jio said, “5G technology is poised to play a vital role in India's economic growth. Jio has a robust 5G network with millions of subscribers, offering enhanced user experience for multimedia and collaborative applications. The focus is now on expanding 5G solutions to enterprises, requiring investments in areas like mobile computing, AI and cloud infrastructure. Collaboration with device manufacturers and other industry players is crucial for the successful implementation of these solutions. India is well-positioned to make significant strides in 5G technology and leverage its benefits in the coming years.”

Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, DG, COAI said, “Providing the best quality to subscribers yet making some profit out of it is the main challenge for any commercial entity and this is not occurring at present for Telcos. The second challenge revolves around us, as TSPs, creating the entire 7 layers of the telecom network, thereby reaching the application stage and then having the OTTs coming in and using the topmost layer without paying charges that are at par with the service they are receiving. Last year, there was a deficiency of 10,000 crores, between what we spent on the networks and the amount Telcos recovered. It is not possible to recover this deficiency by increasing subscribers or raising the tariffs. A possible solution is that the top 4-5 Large Traffic Generator OTTs, which are mostly MNCs, contribute to the building of the infrastructure.”

Sandeep Agarwal, Head of Products & Platforms, Network Solutions and Services, TCS said, "As PM rightly said there's a need of strategic policies & frameworks is to regulate AI. I believe trust is an important aspect of AI technology and there are so many wonderful use cases of AI such as smart cards and another aspect is education for safety purposes. These safety institutions provide technical expertise as well as resources to governments to help understand and mitigate the risks of AI. Further, we must understand the importance of Responsible AI and ensuring that sensitive data is secure from unauthorized access and that individual privacy is well protected."

Dr Paul Sitch, Product Manager, Customer Requirements, Nokia said, “Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is widely regarded as the first killer use case of 5G, thanks to its great synergy with 5G. As 5G uses spectrum in the 3-5 GHz range, it allows for significantly larger spectrum allocations compared to previous generations. Traditionally, data was backhauled to a regional center where the core network and applications were hosted. However, to support advanced use cases like wireless factories, driverless vehicles, mines, ports, and autonomous systems, low latency is crucial. To achieve this, core applications need to be moved much closer to the base stations, within a few kilometers. This is known as the aggregated edge, where core and application functions are hosted locally for a cluster of sites.”

Anuj Sidharth, Director, Marketing and Corporate Communication, MediaTek said, “Every technology comes with its advantages and disadvantages – the onus of using it responsibly for its advantages and training the technology fruitfully, rests on our shoulders. AI is the buzzword today and its use cases are certainly shaping our lives in this modern era. MediaTek has always been at the forefront of technology adoption and today, AI is at the core of all we do. We have powered more than 2 million devices till date including smart phones, smart devices and many more.”

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 14-24 October 2024 at Pragati Maidan.

India Mobile Congress, Asia’s largest digital technology forum, has become a well-known platform across the globe for showcasing innovative solutions, services and state-of-the-art use cases for industry, government, academics, startups and other key stakeholders in the technology and telecom ecosystem. The India Mobile Congress 2024 is hosting over 400 exhibitors, about 900 startups and participation from over 120 countries. The event is also showcasing more than 900 technology use case scenarios, hosting more than 100 sessions with over 600 global and Indian speakers.