From landlines to 5G, it’s all about India’s telecommunications revolution

Since 1969, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) has been celebrated on May 17 in honor of the establishment of the International Telecommunication Union and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865.

News18 gives you a chart of the telecommunication revolution in India that has led the country to modern 21st century India and to the limit of having 5G network.

Over the years, the telecommunications sector has helped India grow and turned it from a poor third world country into a potential global power. The telecommunications industry provides the basis for many thousands of jobs, revenue growth and global communications.

The impact of telecommunications can be seen across the country as Indian software companies allow themselves to become globally competitive in the 1990s so that employees can increase their incomes as well as transform the lives of agricultural communities and create a world-class technology ecosystem.

With the advent of the mobile internet era and the growing availability of mobile telephony for data transmission, it has now become a catalyst for enriching and empowering ordinary Indians.

As the country awaits 5G, which, according to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), will be available in 2022, insiders expect India to reach the next level of economic growth and help the country’s digital transformation.

Evolution

It all started in 1981 when the government tried to liberalize India’s telecommunications market.

Previously, India’s telecommunications sector was run by government agencies under the Ministry of Post and Telegraph in line with Neruvia’s socialist policies after gaining independence, which bound India to state-owned state monopolies.

Thus, the expansion of the sector was gradual, not only because of the congestion of the state apparatus, but also because of the perception of the general public as an object of luxury and a symbol of status rather than necessity.

Later, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts with French telecommunications company Alcatel CIT to merge the state-owned telecommunications company ITI (Indian Telephone Industries Limited), with the aim of establishing five million telephone lines each year. But due to political resistance, this attempt was stopped.

In 1984, Sam Pitroda, who advised Rajiv Gandhi during his tenure as Prime Minister, established the Telematics Development Center (C Dot) to create telecommunications technologies that would meet the needs of Indian telecommunications. networks.

In 1985, DoT was established to take care of communications services across the country.

The following year, two independent corporations were established: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which was tasked with providing communications services in metro areas, and another, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), which was responsible for international communications services. .

By the 1990s, the number of phones had already exceeded 2.15 million.

However, the government was pressured to open the telecommunications sector to private sector investment as part of its 1991 Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) policy.

In 1992, private investment in value-added services (VAS) was allowed, and two years later the government introduced the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP), which restructured the telecommunications infrastructure in terms of ownership, service and regulation.

Long distance still remained within the VSNL, and DoT continued to focus on liberalizing local telecommunications services.

In 1997, the government established the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

A new telecommunications policy was also announced in 1999 as part of a new government formed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with new goals and benchmarks such as on-demand telephones by 2002, telecommunications coverage of all villages by 2002. , Internet access in all villages. until 2002 and so on.

Major policy changes included allowing multiple operators per circle, changing the one-time license fee system, and introducing revenue sharing, allowing for interconnection between service providers.

In 2000, the Government of India amended the TRAI Act and established the Dispute Settlement and Appeals Tribunal (TDSAT).

The aim was to handle litigation and dispute resolution as well as TRAI regulators in areas such as frequency spectrum management, tariff authority, interconnection, quality standards and time period to provide channels between different service providers and so on.

In the same year, the government took the next step from the telecommunications service provider by corporatizing the DoT division, which was later renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). As a result, private players were allowed to enter the telecommunications sector without restrictions.

However, in 2008 the VSNL was privatized.

The government has once again updated policies and objectives for the sector through NTP 2012, which introduced the idea of ​​“one country – one license”. The aim was to reap the benefits of convergence, spectrum liberalization and the separation of network licensing from service delivery.

Another important aspect of the revised policy was to increase the availability of relevant spectrum and ensure its transparent distribution through market methods.

2G, 3G, 4G and 5G

In India, mobile telephony started with the 2G cellular network and quickly moved to the 3G or third generation mobile network.

In 2008, MTNL launched the first 3G services in India.

While digital phone calls and 2G-enabled messaging, 3G-enabled Internet connectivity on mobile devices, allowing mobile Internet access as well as phone calls and text messaging.

In 2012, Airtel launched India’s first 4G services. 4G has brought higher data rates and less latency, which has allowed streaming video online on mobile phones.

If India prepares for 5G, it will not only provide higher mobile internet speeds and less latency, but will also have Internet of Things (IoT) applications and in domains from machine to machine.

According to an economic study by Ericsson on advanced broadband mobile, switching to 5G will reduce the cost of a gigabyte by 10 times than the current 4G network. Extended Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and Fixed Wireless (FWA) are expected to be early options for using 5G in India, helping to address the limited level of fixed broadband penetration in the country and improve data transfer while operational. move.

According to Nitin Bansal, MD, India & Head-Networks, Southeast Asia, Oceania and India at Ericsson: “5G with its ultra-low latency characteristics, increased capacity and reliability will enrich the end-user experience. For example, 4K video on smartphones, AR / VR and mobile gaming applications will benefit from 5G features such as ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability to improve the user experience. ”

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