Shaping the global telecom industry

India aims to design, develop and deploy 6G technologies to provide ubiquitous intelligent and secure connectivity for high quality living experience

A few months after launching 5G services, India recently unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Statement, outlining the country’s aspiration to provide its citizens with advanced, affordable, and sustainable next-generation 6G telecom technology

The Vision document identifies key research pathways being pursued or planned globally that are particularly relevant for ideating new possibilities in the Indian context. It also identifies several connectivity and computing technologies, new hardware, software, high-frequency spectrum, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) engines, space-based assets, devices, and applications to unleash what is called a Tactile Internet.

Over and above the technical aspects, India’s 6G aspiration is very evident.

Bharat 6G Vision is aligned with the national vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and seeks to empower every Indian to become self-reliant.

The vision statement reflects India’s aspiration to shape the global telecom industry by driving R&D, new standards, and innovations.

India intends to play a leadership role in shaping the 6G landscape globally, despite being a late entrant in 5G. The country aims to move beyond adopting globally developed telecom solutions to taking an active role in fundamental R&D, development of standards, devices, commercialisation, and launch.

Countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, EU states, and the US have already initiated 6G research. Commercial 6G launches are expected in the later part of the decade. This provides adequate time for India to work on the 6G Vision at a rapid pace to emerge among the leaders.

That would make India, the world’s highest mobile data-consuming nation, a global force in the telecom industry.

The vision document

The sixth generation of wireless technology or 6G is still in the early stages of development. Experts predict that it will offer speeds and connectivity 100X faster than 5G, up to 1Tbps, with lower latency. This will be vital for powering emerging technologies.

6G is expected to have a wider set of uses in healthcare, remote-controlled manufacturing, robot navigation, agriculture, smart-home networks, entertainment, smart wearables, etc. thereby providing seamless connectivity between the physical world of senses and its digital representation, the cyber-physical continuum.

India has set up six task forces to focus on the pillars of the 6G vision, which have recommended aligning research efforts towards the most scalable and feasible technologies, exploring the full potential of 6G, and developing secure and trustworthy India-based 6G infrastructure.

The main recommendations of the task forces are provided here.

Creating a multiplatform next-gen network: The task force focused on the future of telecom networks in India beyond 2030, considering various strands such as optical and wireless networks, AI and ML optimisation, spectrum usage, remote operations, digital twins, non-terrestrial networks, and 6G technology.

The task force highlights the need for a seamless integrated optical and wireless network, a dense optical network up to homes and offices, and attention to Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) engineering in rural areas. It also emphasises the importance of user-defined virtualised air interfaces, drone communication, and hyper-personalised wireless networks.

The task force recommends aligning research efforts toward the most scalable and feasible technologies.

Developing innovative solutions: 6G has the potential to revolutionise human-to-human, machine-to-machine, and human-to-machine interactions. The task force suggests that a roadmap be created to explore the full potential of 6G to ensure the technology meets future needs. The key guiding principles suggested are equitable access, sustainable development, ubiquitous coverage, cost-effectiveness, data security and privacy. Allocation of reasonable financial resources is recommended in a public-private partnership model.

Taking lead on standardisation: The task force outlines the potential impact of 6G technologies over the next decade, including supporting ubiquitous instant communications and immersive experiences. Developing secure and trustworthy India-based 6G infrastructure is crucial for ensuring the country’s sovereignty.

India can contribute to the development of 6G standards in various international bodies such as 3GPP, ITU, IEC, and IEEE to create a prominent position in the global standardisation space.

The vision document recommends closer coordination between government, industry, and academia to develop a research agenda for 6G standardisation areas of shared interest.

Ecosystem for devices and systems: The development of 6G devices is expected to provide hyper-connectivity between humans and machines through new man-machine interfaces, ubiquitous computing, multi-sensory data fusion, precision sensing and actuation, low-power and battery-less devices, and network capabilities.

The development of 6G technologies will drive new industry verticals, such as holographic communications, telehealth, and extremely high-rate information access. The task force highlights the need for significant R&D investments in 5G+ and 6G devices and systems.

Identification of spectrum: The task force has set out objectives to drive spectrum management initiatives, including identifying spectrum needs, signalling identified 6G spectrum bands, making spectrum available for 6G technology innovations, encouraging spectrum sharing, and positioning India as a hub of 6G wireless technology R&D and manufacturing.

Specific band-wise recommendations have been made, including reviewing spectrum bands, opening up a few bands to generate demand like 450-470 MHz, 526-612 MHz, and 31-31.3 GHz, expanding and positioning a large mid-band through, and delicensing or license-exempting key bands. Besides, strengthening the Wireless Planning Commission (WPC) with robust spectrum management and audit systems is an important recommendation.

Ensuring adequate R&D finance: The task force mentions the need for significant funding and longer gestation periods for research and development (R&D) in telecommunication technology products. It recommends promoting the ecosystem for research, design, prototyping, development, proof of concept testing, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) creation, field testing, security, certification, and manufacturing.

It recommends that the government creates a large corpus of R&D funds to facilitate various funding instruments such as grants, loans, VC funds, and a fund of funds, etc. Also, a pool of Rs 100 billion is envisaged to be created for the next 10 years. Finally, the task force recommends two tiers of grants, up to Rs 200 million to service funding requirements ranging from small to medium, and grants above Rs 200 million for high-impact projects.

The implementation approach

The 2030 roadmap aims to provide 100 Mbps to every citizen, 500Gbps of bandwidth to every gram panchayat, connect 90% of households with high-speed broadband, set up 50 million public Wi-Fi hotspots, and create 25 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The development of 6G devices is expected to provide hyper-connectivity between humans and machines through new man-machine interfaces.

To achieve this, Mission 6G will be launched, with financial resources and support provided to research, start-ups, and innovative ideas. An apex body will be created to oversee the mission focusing on timely execution.

The task forces recommend a two-phase approach for the development and commercialisation of 6G technology. In Phase 1 (2023-2025), support will be provided for explorative ideas, risky pathways, and proof-of-concept tests. Phase 2 (2025-2030) will focus on commercialisation and collaborating with similar missions worldwide.

Bharat 6G Vision is aligned with the national vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. It seeks to empower every Indian to become self-reliant in their lives while ensuring India’s place as a leading player in advanced telecom technologies and solutions that are affordable and contribute to the global good.

The next decade could make India a global voice to reckon with in the telecommunications and technology arena.

By Jaideep Ghosh

Jaideep is Chief Operating Officer at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

(Views expressed in this column are personal)

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