HISTORY - C-DOT – The early days

CDoT came into existence with the mission to change the telecom landscape of the country through indigenously designed and developed technologies

The eventful journey of the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the premier Telecom R&D centre of the Government of India dates back to 25th August 1984 when India was heavily reliant on imported Telecom technologies and equipment that could not meet the specific requirements of our villages which have been longing to hear the magical dial tone that could bridge the yawning gap between rural and urban landscapes.

The very idea of deploying telephone exchanges in the remote and inhospitable villages of India was far from reality. Not only did it seem impossible to realize this dream with the available infrastructure, manpower, and technology solutions, but it was also financially non-viable given the exorbitant costs of the foreign equipment and their maintenance for smooth operation in extreme weather conditions.

C-DOT’s indigenous Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology is fueling the backbone of BharatNet, a nationwide optical fiber network that aims to extend high-speed connectivity to even the most inaccessible and inhospitable parts of India.

Today, when almost every Indian has access to a mobile phone powered by the Internet, it seems quite unimaginable that people in India had to wait for three to four years in the early eighties to get a telephone connection too with great difficulty and influence contacts.

The lack of adequate connectivity and requisite Telecom infrastructure poorly impacted the global status of India as a preferred destination for international business and foreign investments. Newspapers were abuzz with headlines indicating the rapid shifting of business to other Asian countries due to the non-availability of Telephone connections and leased lines.

India has been a pool of great talent producing top-notch academicians, scientists, doctors, artists, and engineers who have made the entire nation proud with their unique innovations and targeted solutions that have benefitted society at large across the globe. In continuation of this civilizational trend, Sam Pitroda, GB Meemamsi, DR Mahajan and MV Pitke laid the foundation of an ambitious project under the guidance and support of Shri Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, to illuminate our country on the global connectivity grid at a time when we, unfortunately, had a negative distinction for being one of the countries with a very low tele-density i.e. number of telephones per hundred people.

This was how C-DOT came into existence to fulfill the prestigious mission of reviving the connectivity landscape of the country with indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured technologies. C-DOT embraced the revolutionary idea of conducting targeted R&D to achieve the desired output in a defined time frame and result-oriented framework. It was the need of the hour to debunk the myth that the projects undertaken in India could never be completed in a timely manner owing to poor planning, non-availability of resources, and other underlying issues & challenges.

The founders of C-DOT were cognizant of the general temperament of people towards local industry and domestic capabilities. They took this challenge as an opportunity to restore the confidence and trust of Indians in Swadeshi i.e. home-grown. They wanted to prove that the Indian workforce is well-equipped to execute complex technological projects suited to diverse geographies and varied requirements of the country.

The successful Proof of Concept (PoC) of the end-to-end indigenous 4G system that is powered by a 4G Core developed by C-DOT, Radio Access Network (RAN) from Tejas Networks led by TCS in consortium mode is a manifestation of the growing synergy between R&D and industry.

There was a saying that was very popular in the initial years after the inception of C-DOT that C-DOT has been given the target of producing a state-of-the-art indigenous Telephone exchange/switch in 36 months with a fund of Rs 36 Crores. Sam Pitroda was very particular towards demonstrating the might of local R&D institutions in producing world-class technologies within a specified timeframe provided they are given the opportunity, freedom, resources, and autonomy at par with the global R&D technology houses.

The then Government extended all possible support and resources for setting up this R&D center of Telematics or C-DOT. The Government gave this onerous task to the youth brigade of assiduous, inquisitive, and creative engineers who were keen on unleashing their knowledge and skill to build indigenous Telecom technologies for connecting every nook and corner of our great nation.

The establishment of C-DOT as a Telecom R&D center was indeed a herculean task. Given the constricted timelines for desired output, C-DOT did not wait for a new campus to be constructed afresh and rather started functioning at Akbar Hotel in Chanakyapuri, Delhi.

This was a commendable initiative on part of C-DOT’s founders as it saved a lot of time that could have gone into the establishment of a permanent building. The highest priority was accorded to the accomplishment of the ambitious milestone of having a home-grown exchange that could propel the telephony engines across the length and breadth of the country.

Sam Pitroda, GB Meemamsi, DR Mahajan, and MV Pitke laid the foundation of an ambitious project to illuminate our country on the global connectivity grid at a time when we, unfortunately, had a negative distinction for being one of the countries with a very low tele-density i.e. number of telephones per hundred people.

The very idea of starting C-DOT from a five-star hotel was also criticized in the government quarters as there was a great deal of skepticism about the performance of C-DOT given the organizational workforce comprising of NRIs and young professionals who were thought to have joined C-DOT to just enjoy the five-star luxury and emerging MNC-like climate.

Since C-DOT was receiving grants from the Government to execute its projects, there were huge expectations from C-DOT in terms of financial gains and other advantages resulting from its indigenous technology endeavors. The senior officers in the Ministry were eagerly waiting for the visible results.

The founders were mindful of the consequences that would dent the confidence and image of all stakeholders if they failed to deliver. They made sure that the workforce stays motivated to achieve its goals and successfully created a flexible work environment that was conducive to working late hours. The level of energy and enthusiasm was so high that engineers did not care about visiting their homes and worked day and night to fulfill their dream. The facilities including food and transport were made available to the engineers at any time. It was truly an ideal atmosphere replete with a research-oriented outlook and relentless determination toward a focused mission.

Finally, the firm resolve and tireless efforts of C-DOT engineers fructified into a Rural Automated Exchange (RAX) that triggered the indigenous Telecom revolution in the country. The country’s first indigenously developed digital rural electronic exchange (RAX) of 128 lines capacity was installed at Kittur in Karnataka on 22nd July 1986. This powerful innovation drastically transformed the proliferation of telephony across rural and urban areas. C-DOT was able to engineer this exchange at approximately one-tenth of the cost that could have been incurred for production outside India. An MoU was also signed with ITI for setting up model production plant for C-DOT switches. The Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements were also inked with eight local manufacturers. C-DOT also adapted its indigenous technologies for deployment in other countries including Vietnam, Egypt, Iran, and Bhutan.

There may not be a yardstick to statistically measure the financial gains and the advantages that accrued to India from the indigenously designed and developed C-DOT RAX. In comparison with the prices quoted by MNCs for telephone exchanges in those days, the savings that resulted from C-DOT RAX can be pegged to the tune of more than Rs. 10,000 Crores. Additionally, this led to the creation of a knowledge economy fueled by skilled human capital that could have been worth a few billion dollars.

India scripted history in the area of Telecom with C-DOT’s indigenous technological innovations. This revolution started with the RAX and continued to gain momentum with many more indigenous Telecom products and solutions that have played a key role in making India self-reliant and addressing diverse connectivity requirements.

The Innovation continued in the Later Years

RAX was further revamped to a high-capacity Main Automatic Exchange (MAX) and MAX-XL (40000 Subscriber Lines) to meet the ever-increasing requirements. On 1st Jan 2000, a total of 166 MAX – XL was serving 1 million subscriber lines all over the country.

C-DOT’s indigenous Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology that is successfully deployed in defense establishments helped C-DOT secure its first US Patent.

C-DOT, over the years, has evolved into a full-fledged Telecom R&D institution that complies with level 5 maturity on the CMMI model with capabilities to undertake large-scale state-of-the-art Telecom technologies development programs.

The efforts of C-DOT engineers resulted in a Rural Automated Exchange (RAX) that triggered the indigenous Telecom revolution in the country. The country’s first indigenously developed digital rural electronic exchange (RAX) of 128 lines capacity was installed at Kittur in Karnataka on 22nd July 1986.

C-DOT has diversified its R&D focus on a multitude of Telecom technology areas spanning Optical Communication, Switching & Routing, Wireless Communication, Security, Network Management, 4G LTE, 5G & IoT/M2M solutions, Telecom software applications, etc. which have significantly contributed towards achieving self-reliance in the Telecom sector, nation-building and overall growth of Indian economy.

Now

Today, C-DOT has two research centers in Delhi and Bengaluru with a pilot production facility in its Bengaluru unit. C-DOT’s current workforce of a little more than a thousand comprises almost 90% meritorious researchers who have been recruited from the top technology institutes of the nation.

C-DOT has been at the forefront of Telecom technology and innovation with its diverse product portfolio that has accelerated the digitalization of “New India” as envisaged by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. C-DOT’s home-grown technologies have been instrumental in achieving digital literacy and digital empowerment owing to their easy adaptation for all sections of society including illiterates and semi-literates.

C-DOT’s indigenous Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology is fueling the backbone of BharatNet, a nationwide optical fiber network that aims to extend high-speed connectivity to even the most inaccessible and inhospitable parts of India.

With its wide array of Wi-Fi solutions including the latest Wi-Fi 6 and Solar, Long-Range & Satellite Wi-Fi, C-DOT is committed to the proliferation of public Wi-Fi hotspots and boosting village-level entrepreneurship and MSMEs in the country as part of the prestigious PM-WANI initiative of the Government of India.

C-DOT has indigenously designed multiple variants of Digital Network Elements including Routers of Terabit & Multi-Terabit capacities and Layer 2/3 Switches that have been deployed in national networks including those of defence and strategic importance. These technologies have been augmented for positioning in Data Centers and Cloud Networks as well.

C-DOT’s Integrated Alert System for effective disaster management, based on ITU’s Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) has been a path-breaking initiative saving millions of lives during natural disasters and Covid-pandemic.

C-DOT lays great emphasis on security in designing its technologies to cater to the dynamically changing cyber threat landscape. C-DOT has developed various innovative solutions for security-centric applications. These cover solutions for lawful interception, cyber health monitoring & analytics, advanced quantum communication, tracing of cloned & counterfeited mobile devices, secure chat & call platforms and video-conferencing.

It has been a constant endeavor at C-DOT to design indigenous technologies for ease of manufacturing and deployment. C-DOT has dedicated teams for vendor development and transfer of technology to spur the creation of local Telecom manufacturing ecosystem as envisioned under the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s mission of building “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

C-DOT is keen on collaborating with domestic industry, startups, and academia to evolve a harmonious framework for the design, development, manufacturing, and deployment of home-grown technologies in an efficacious and expeditious manner.

The successful Proof of Concept (POC) of the end-to-end indigenous 4G system that is powered by a 4G Core developed by C-DOT, Radio Access Network (RAN) from Tejas Networks led by TCS in consortium mode is a manifestation of the growing synergy between R&D and industry. C-DOT has been actively working in the area of 5G and inviting partners for its ambitious 5G India Alliance that will act as a catalyst for the indigenous development and deployment of 5G networks in the country.

C-DOT is continuously treading on the path of “Atmanirbharta” and is steadfast in its commitment to indigenization of Telecom technologies driven by local skill and innovation.

By Ravinder Ambardar, CDOT

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