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The government is looking at addressing challenges related to lack of returns on 5G investments and at the same time need for expanding telecom infrastructure arising out of increase in data usage, a senior official said on Friday. During a panel discussion at ICRIER Prosus Centre for Internet and Digital Economy event, telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal said that the median data speed in India has increased from about 99-100 megabit per second (mbps) in September to 151 mbps and on an average an individual consumes about 29 gigabytes of data every month. He said that most people are consuming data for the purpose of entertainment which means that there is a need to continuously augment telecom infrastructure. "In terms of challenges, we are going to see a lot of pressure on spectrum, as the data flow increases, we have to find new spectrum for mobile usage and broadband. A lot of capex will be required as we move from 5G to 6G. Elsewhere use of 5G and providing them returns because we
COAI on Monday expressed concerns that the sector regulator's new norms to tackle spam calls and messages have prescribed substantially increased penalties for telcos, and rued the absence of any regulation for OTT Communication Services that, the industry body pointed out, has seen an influx of spam. Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) contended that while telecom operators have taken ample steps to curb spam calls and messages, there has been a significant increase in the quantum of unsolicited communications as well as legitimate commercial communication, that has moved to OTT communication apps, substantially leading to the rise in financial crimes in the country, COAI Director General S P Kochhar said. COAI said it is also concerning that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has substantially increased the penalty to be imposed over the telecom service providers. "COAI had submitted that Financial Disincentives (FDs) on TSPs, being only intermediary in .
India's data transmission capacity is expected to grow four times with the activation of new submarine cables due in 2025 that connect the country to several key markets of the world, Trai Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Friday. While speaking at a telecom industry event Digicom Summit, he said India plays a key role in the global submarine cable network as it hosts around 17 international subsea cables across 17 district landing stations. "As of the end of 2023, the total lit capacity and activity and activated capacity of these cables stood at 180 TBPS (terabit per second) and 132 TBPS, respectively. Multiple next-generation systems are due to become operational in 2025, replacing ageing cables. Once the new systems are fully operational, India's data transmission capacity is projected to quadruple with additional crucial routes," Lahoti said. He said that telecom services are the backbone of the digital economy and industry is playing a critical role in supporting its ...
The government's decision to make more spectrum available for mobile telephony will improve services for the common man, industry body COAI said on Friday. The cabinet has approved refarming of 687 Mhz of spectrum for telecom services which will be made available to the industry in phases by 2028-29. The "government has accepted the industry's requirement of 2000 Mhz of spectrum for mobile services. They have given us around 400 Mhz of spectrum and the (telecom) minister (Jyotiraditya Scindia) has promised us that this is not the end of it and you will get more. This will improve utilisation and services...to the common man," COAI Director General SP Kochhar said. Scindia at an event organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) shared that the Cabinet has approved the refarming of 687 Mhz spectrum for mobile services and more will be done based on the study by a committee of secretaries put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said initially 320 Mhz will
Non-allocation of telecom spectrum in 6-Ghz band could lead to a radio wave crunch for high-speed 5G services, a key growth driver for the country's digital economy and development of emerging technologies specially artificial intelligence, industry body COAI said on Tuesday. India needs an additional 2 giga hertz of mid-band spectrum to meet the international standard of 'IMT-2020' user experience to ensure data rates of 100 megabit per second (mbps) on downlink and 50 mbps on uplink in densely-populated cities, COAI Director General S P Kochhar told PTI, citing global telecom industry GSMA. "While the government is considering vacating the spectrum in C-band, i.e., 3,670-4,000 MHz for 5G/6G use, it may not be enough to reach the required 2 GHz spectrum for IMT (5G/6G) in mid-band. Therefore, we want to stress on the fact that it is essential that the most optimal allocation of the 1,200 MHz available in the 6 GHz band is done for mobile communications in India, to get this critical