North Eastern Council (NEC) has launched a 5G experience centre in collaboration with the Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) in Guwahati. G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region of India (DoNER) has officially inaugurated the centre at Tech City, Guwahati. This project is executed by Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited (AMTRON), in collaboration with TSSC to advance 5G use case applications in the northeastern region.
During the event, the minister also flagged off the ‘Skill on Wheels’ project by TSSC. The project aims to enhance skills and provide certification to candidates in various telecom industry roles through national council for vocational education and training (NCVET) certified courses offered by TSSC. These courses, funded by the NEC, are aligned with NCVET norms under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). Additionally, massive open online course (MOOC) courses, in line with TSSC norms, are available in digital format for online access.
Commenting on the development, G. Kishan Reddy said, “Based on this vision, NEC, Ministry of DoNER has 100 per cent funded the rolled out India’s first 5G training labs and 5G health use case applications on a large scale across all eight northeastern states. This project was executed by AMTRON in collaboration with various government agencies like the MDoNER, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), TSSC etc. This project was completed across all eight states in a record time of around 75 days which is a record for any project of north eastern council under the policy of “Act First and Fast for North East”. The 5G labs shall help the youth from north east to gain skills relevant in industry 4.0 and take optimal advantage of fruits of knowledge economy which can help north east to improve many of its gaps in sustainable development goals (SDG) 2030. TSSC has also successfully imparted master trainers for 5G labs.”
Meanwhile, Arvind Bali, chief executive officer (CEO), TSSC, said, “The unveiling of state-of-the-art 5G experience centre at Tech City, Guwahati, is a significant milestone to increase the upskilling of north eastern youth, it will also ensure livelihood enhancement for the local youth. This is in line with TSSC commitment to skilling youth of India in telecom job roles. We are thrilled to showcase this facility and demonstrate the immense potential it holds for the future.”
This initiative represents an advancement by NEC and TSSC toward the vision articulated by the prime minister of India during the golden jubilee celebrations of NEC on December 18, 2022. The prime minister emphasised the strategic utilisation of “asht lakhmi” for the development of northeast, with a significant focus on leveraging 5G technology and digital connectivity. This emphasis aims at fostering job creation, achieving various socio-economic developmental objectives, and meeting the SDG 2030 targets in the northeastern region.
