Union Telecom and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made a big announcement on Friday during Republic Economic Summit: “India will roll out 6G by 2028-29”. While speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network’s Editor in Chief Arnab Goswami, Vaishnaw stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government have already invested a significant amount of time, resource, and funds in getting 6G developments in place and aims to become a technology leader.
6G rollout by 2028-29
“We have already invested significant amount of time, resources and funds in getting 6G developments in place. Already, we have more than 15 patents for 6G technology. Our teams are called for all major discussions. We have a clear roadmap for taking the lead. The lead is in ensuring we are the technology leaders in 6G,” Ashwini Vaishnaw stated.
He further revealed, “India will roll out 6G by 2028-29. The world is recognising that India is emerging as a technological superpower, not just a country that just develops for the world but for its own as well. At least eight ministers from G20 told me said that ‘we are waiting for India’s 5G'”.
‘Spectrum allocation for 5G in record time’: Ashwini Vaishnaw
“We were expecting that after the spectrum auctions, it generally takes a few months for the spectrum to be physically allocated, for harmonisation of all the frequencies, but it actually happened in one day. Two weeks time was given to the telecom service providers to make the payment as it was done, and within 24 hours of that, the spectrum letters were issued,” he said. The sharp deadlines were set by the government as our leadership believes in performance deliveries and ensuring people’s aspirations are met with full vigour, force, and commitment.
While speaking about the changes in India’s Aatmanirbhar journey in connection with the 5G, he said, “A lot will change in terms of the global experience, the most fundamental change will happen in the healthcare sector as we will see a massive transformation. Earlier, that used to be a difficult dream for people staying in remote areas, consultations with metro cities doctors, telemedicine. The second change is in the education sector. The third is the logical and industrial sectors”.
Rationale for keeping China out
Ashwini Vaishnaw stated, “There are certain technologies which every aspiring nation must try and master. That doesn’t mean you shut yourself from the outside world. The idea is our engineers, our technicians are among the best people in the world. If we have clear strategic visions and take a conscious call that we can develop certain technologies come what may we can achieve it”.
5G Technology- “If we look at the entire spectrum, there are only five countries in the world that have complete end-to-end 5G stack, and now we are joining the club as a 6th country, it’s not an easy task. PM has complete faith in our ability to deliver as no other leader would have given that kind of clarity of thought that PM has given”.
Vande Bharat Train– “There are only about eight countries in the world that have developed such trains which can run 180kms/hr and we are the 9th country. Earlier, there was no political commitment but now the thought process has changed in a bid to become the technological leader. Now it is ‘Make in India’, design in India, bringing the supply chain to India. That is a big difference.”
