People to be smart enough to use the technology, avoid vendor locking: RS Sharma

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) R S Sharma said that Indian Telecom Industry has scaled up fast over the years and is known for its successful entrepreneurship by providing great public service at 14th Annual National Telecom Seminar ‘TELEFOCUS’.

The event was organized by  Amity University, Noida.

He mentioned that as new technology unravels, Indian entrepreneurship and innovative spirit will enable the country to be at forefront. He shared that although, India has created technologies at a scale in various industries but in general, it has been slow in putting the technology to its proper use.

He stressed that the technology can transform the governance but India, as a nation, have been slow in adopting paperless governance.

Briefing about the technology related issues faced in India, Mr Sharma said that when it comes to new technology, there are vendors who sell the technology in a way to make consumers dependent upon it. He advised people to be smart enough to use the technology and avoid vendor locking. It is important to create inter-operatable technology. Outlining other issues, he stressed that issues such as security, roaming and number allotment system also need immediate attention. Lauding the initiative towards Cashless India, he averred that it is an achievable dream, as wide range of solutions is available for digital transactions.

Sharing his views on Internet of Things (IoT), Paolo Colella said that digital world has revolutionized businesses. Worldwide and at present, the most valued companies in market are digital which shows the impact of digital revolution. Mr. Colella averred that India is a mobile native company and a land of formidable IT talent. He stressed that by 2022, there would be 1 billion Smartphone users in India with probably 100 percent internet penetration. He remarked that soon India will be competing with China in terms of internet usage. He proposed to manage the exponential developments by rethinking the networks and infrastructure, creating more sustainable ICT structure and fast policy developments by government through release of new spectrum.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhil Gupta said that at present, IoT has brought a remarkable change to the world and has been offering endless opportunities.

He laid stress upon three fundamental pillars of IoT in Indian context including application, skill work force and robust network.

He apprised that the growing competition in telecom industry is good for the consumers since it offers lot of benefits to them.

Gupta called upon the regulators and industry doyens to collaborate for ensuring the growth of financial health of Telecom industry.

Addressing the gathering, Lt Gen P D Bhargava said “with increase in coverage, connectivity, availability of smart devices, advancement of better technology, information exchange and need for protected life, India is on the brink of third industrial revolution.”

He mentioned that India has witnessed IoT in form of smart technologies and it is expected to see IoT in every part of India by end of decade through various business models and standardization which will push the growth further. He apprised that IoT has financial impact and projected value growth of around 30 billion dollars by 2020 itwill become a major factor in global economy as connectivity will become a norm in next few years.

During the inauguration, Amity Telecom Excellence Awards were conferred upon various Telecom companies for their excellent performance in 17 categories including Top Tower Company of they Year- 2016 to Bharti Infratel; Top Managed Service Company of the Year- 2016 to Ericsson India Ltd.; Top Infrastructure Innovator of the Year- 2016 to Indus Tower; Top Domestic E-Commerce Company of the Year- 2016 to PayTm; Top Network R & D Leader of the Year 2016 to Nokia Network Ltd and Top Emerging Indian handsets Manufacturer of the Year 2016 to Lava International Ltd amongst others

The Seminar was inaugurated by Sharma; Colella, Gupta, Lt Gen Bhargava.

The inauguration was followed by a Panel Discussion on the theme of “TELEFOCUS 2017” wherein Eminent Telecom leaders including Sanjay Malik, Country Head, Nokia Networks, Sanjeev Nikore, President, Strategic Initiative, Tech Mahindra, Sushil Kumar, DDG (IoT), TEC, Ajay Ranjan Mishra, Director- Technology, Ericson India, Sandeep Gupta, Sr. VP Strategy , Architectures & Engineering , Bharti Airtel,  Vikas Sehgal, Head Sale Public-Sterlite Technologies and Sameer Rawal, Head Enterprises Business Huawei shared their views.