DOT to unveil the 5G roadmap by the end of the June this year: Aruna Sundararajan

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) is expected to unveil the 5G or fifth-generation roadmap by the end of the June this year and take lead in technology as well as used cases, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said on Friday.

She said, "The DoT has received good inputs on 5G in the new telecom policy or NTP 2018 which is yet to be unveiled. The draft of the NTP 2018 is in final stages and will be put in public soon."

"The telecom ministry has set up a high-level committee to work on 5G roadmap so that India gets access to the next generation technology when it is available for commercial roll-out globally, She further said. Adding that "In the 5G we are looking to do a lot of pilots. So when 5G hits, India will be a leading edge of technology as well as used cases."

On the call drop issue, DoT secretary said Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has brought new regulatory regime under which there are stringent norms for call drops that need to be followed by telcos.

She also pointed out that, "We are moving towards getting approvals for in-flight connectivity but cannot give any timeframe for the final approval, however, the discussions are on right track."

India is going to beat al the estimations. It was thought that India is primarily a voice-driven market, but the way data is growing is taking everyone by surprise. The data growth is not just in urban markets but in the deep rural, telecom secretary said.

'I expect that by the end of the next financial year, we will have pan India 4G coverage barring a few pockets. The right regulatory framework is the key to create an enabling environment for connected devices', the secretary further said while addressing at an Assocham event.

In the last 18 months, the telecom networks undergone fundamental change because we have very rapidly moved from predominant era of 2G and 3G to an era of 4G, Sundararajan added.