The third day of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020 being jointly organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) concluded on December 9, 2020 amidst much fervor. The three-day event having an overarching theme of ‘Inclusive Innovation: Smart, Secure, Sustainable’, provided a glimpse into the future of digital communications through its profound conferences, plenary sessions, exhibitions and live demonstrations.
The third day of the event witnessed key note speeches and panel discussions on thought-provoking topics including ‘Enterprises Connect – Smart, Secure, Sustainable’; ‘5G Policies and Spectrum – Spectrum and Regulatory Policies Impacting the Mobile Revolution in India’; ‘Open RAN – Revolutionising the Open Access Network from Procurement to Performance’; ‘Make In India, Make for World’; ‘Shaping Sustainable Digital Future through Telecom and Technology’; ‘SDN + NFV – Building Smarter Networks for Resilience and Efficiency’; and ‘OTT and Content Play – Futureproofing OTT for India’.
The first session was themed ‘Enterprise Connect – Smart, Secure, Sustainable’ and deliberated on the importance of supporting cloud services in a big way and drawing cues from the models implemented in developed countries. The session was attended by industry giants like STL; Intel Corporation; Ciena Corporation; KPMG India; Fortinet; Tech Mahindra; Ribbon Communications; Bharti Airtel Communication and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi).
The second session was themed ‘5G Policies and Spectrum – Spectrum and Regulatory Policies Impacting the Mobile Revolution in India’ and focused on discussing how policies need to evolve and their impact on the future of telco’s growth. The session witnessed participation from the DoT, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Facebook, Bharti Airtel limited, STL, Reliance Jio and Ericsson and was moderated by Shobhit Agarwal, KPMG.
The following session themed ‘Open RAN – Revolutionising the Open Access Network from Procurement to Performance’ had dialogues and discussions around some very technical aspects. It was moderated by Purushotham KG, Head Telecommunications and Partner, KPMG and attended by industry players including Mavenir, Red Hat, Dell Technologies, Cisco Systems Inc., Bharti Airtel Limited, Vi, CommScope Inc. and Facebook.
The fourth session focused on expanding the horizons of PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision and was themed ‘Make in India, Make for World’. The session was attended by the Additional Secretary to the PM, Nitin Bansal, Ericsson; Amit Marwah, Nokia Corporation; Harish Krishnan, Cisco System Inc.; JS Deepak, STL; Mr Sudhir Pillai, Corning Incorporated India and was moderated by Chaitanya Gogineni, KPMG.
The event hosted four more comprehensive and detailed discussions on the topics ‘Shaping Sustainable Digital Future through Telecom and Technology’; ‘SDN + NFV – Building Smarter Networks for Resilience and Efficiency’; and ‘OTT and Content Play – Futureproofing OTT for India’, which focused on laying the ground work for a robust future of telecommunications services, network and connectivity.
During the conference, Amar Mandhyan, Director, Technical Sales, CommScope, said, “The positive impact the Open RAN ecosystem will have on the telecommunications industry in the coming years cannot be overstated. As telecom service providers are eager to deploy 5G, Open RAN can play a critical role in accelerating the availability of 5G across various deployment models and strategies. It promotes a sustainable, innovative, open, secure, diverse and innovative supply chain for advanced wireless technologies, which will encourage the adoption of next-generation applications and services that enable new businesses models and revenue streams.”
Meanwhile, Anku Jain, MD MediaTek India, said “As we near the end of the three-day IMC 2020, MediaTek congratulates the government and COAI on creating a great platform where all industry leaders and telecom sector stakeholders came together to share their insights and thought leadership on various facets of the sector. It has been an immersive and thought-provoking conference, and as the 5G partner for IMC, MediaTek is keen on driving innovative inclusion going ahead.”
The marquee event concluded with the resolve to be back again in a much bigger way, next year. Echoing the grand success of its previous three instalments, IMC has established itself as a premium platform for global and local stakeholders in the sector, to collaborate in the cause of exploring opportunities and leveraging possibilities, with specific focus on South and South-East Asia.
Considered as India’s largest digital technology event and the biggest international tech conference in South Asia, IMC 2020 witnessed an overwhelming participation from global industry behemoths deliberating on subjects such as, international best practices in the realm of digital transformation, burgeoning exponential technologies, dire need of viable regulatory frameworks, smart devices and a smarter world, cyber-security, environmentally sustainable, inclusive futuristic technology, etc.
