With its focus on a more appropriate policy formation that could help in embracing new technologies, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has asked the stakeholders to come up with suggestions in response to the regulator’s consultation paper, issued here on Friday. The paper- Digital Transformation through 5G Ecosystem- aims to identify the policy challenges and suggest the right policy framework for faster adoption and effective utilisation of new technologies.
In its consultation paper, TRAI says that by consulting the stakeholders, “a holistic and sustainable development of the economy driven by 5G ecosystem can be adopted.”
“With the advent of technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented/ Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and Metaverse, India is poised to unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation,” it said.
Whether there was a need for additional measures to further strengthen the cross-sector collaboration for development and adoption of 5G use cases in India and if there are any barriers in development of ecosystem for 5G use cases, which need to be addressed, are the issues which TRAI has put forth. Through this paper, the sector regulator also wants to lay down a road map for policy measures to create awareness on 5G technologies and promote their use. It also wants to seek inputs on what steps the government can take for making people more aware about IoT enabled smart applications.
Further, TRAI also put query for discussion that includes if the private companies/ startups developing these applications need to be engaged in this exercise through some incentivisation schemes; and if there is a need to develop sector-specific IoT security and privacy guidelines.
The 5G services was launched in India on October 1, 2022 and the telecom service providers are aggressively rolling out the network across the length and breadth of the country. Apart from government taking several initiatives for building 5G infrastructure and for promoting R&D, TRAI has also made several recommendations for faster deployment of 5G network and services in the country.
The sector regulator has sought the comments by October 30, and counter comments if any, by November 13.
Published on September 29, 2023
