Regulations with high compliance costs need review: Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, I&B at IMC 202

After witnessing the historic launch of 5G services in India, the 6th edition of Asia’s largest technology exhibition India Mobile Congress hosted engaging sessions with policymakers, CEOs, and CTOs of top telecom and tech companies for insightful discussions on policies and future roadmap of 5G technology in India. Speaking at a session here on Day 3, Shankar Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) stressed on the need of reviewing regulations with high compliance costs for stakeholders and governments.

“Regulations with high compliance costs for stakeholders and the government need to be reviewed. Disrupting effects of changes in licensing, regulations, etc. need to be accounted for. Technology should foster co-existence of communication technologies and regulations can play a key role in ensuring this,” he said.

Adding more insights on regulatory challenges, Dr PD Vaghela, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said,” Regulation has become challenging over time. We need to consider the impact of regulation and its norms on other sectors and the related stakeholders. Improved and enhanced regulatory framework can ensure smooth and proper adoption of new policies and emerging trends.”

Day 3 of the 6th Indian Mobile Congress hosted sessions titled ‘Global CEO Conclave: Steering India to the new digital universe,’ ‘Global CTO Conclave: Building a connected ecosystem for next Techade’ and many others which were attended by top leaders of telecom and tech companies, policymakers, thought-leaders, academicians, and others. The participants shared their views on the future of 5G development and its large scale implementation in the country.

IMC 2022- Day 3 session highlights:

1. Need to do innovation with startups: Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Airtel business:
   5G is based on 3 key pillars—building and acceleration of digital infrastructure, building digital platforms with focus on Industry 4.0 and data center platforms. We need to do innovations with startups and our alliances will help us build this new 5G ecosystem.
2. Right time to go with 5G: Ludwig Landgren, VP, Digital Services, Ericsson
   This is the right time to go with 5G. It is faster than any other technology and India will soon have 5 million service users. This will be a gamechanger.
3. We are not late in 5G: Sanjay Malik, SVP and Head of India Market, Nokia
   We are not late in 5G as it takes time to build an ecosystem. The consumer expectations arehigh. Despite starting late, India catches up with speed and the success of UPI is a prime example. Same will happen with 5G.
4. Spectrum allocation is a big step towards industry: Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vi
   We should give compliments to the Indian government for the pace of change. Spectrum allocation is a big step towards industry’s growth.
5. Committed to make India globally competitive: Hari Om Rai, CEO, Lava International
   The government is the biggest company of the country, and all the companies are working under it. We need to work together with the government. The competition is not between the companies but between the countries. We are now committed to make India globally competitive.
6. Telecom is moving from connectivity to solutions: PK Purwar, CMD, BSNL
   India made great progress in the last few years. The biggest role we can play is to meet the objectives of the government and provide connectivity to people who do not have it. Policies of state govts, local agencies should not look at telecom as a revenue stream but as a utility for the common people. Telecom is moving from connectivity to solutions. Startups are playing a very important role and unless we involve startups which are bringing new innovation and use cases, the real benefit of 5g will not come to us.

The endeavors of IMC 2022 perfectly fall in line with the vision of Digital India and promoting Made-in-India technology to address the challenges in areas of commerce, healthcare, education, communication and financial inclusion.

Since its inception, IMC has been actively promoting India’s strength and position as a global hub for manufacturing technology products. It is further highlighting the role of startups, small-scale industries in the new digital universe to deliver best in class service, equipment, and applications. PM Modi lauded the efforts of IMC for bringing the digital ecosystem together and providing a great platform for dialogues and endeavours on digitalization, technology, nation building, industrial revolution and taking government services to doorsteps. BCS Bureau