India changes gear to be in line with global powers on 6G tech

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 5

In line with what is happening on 6G technology in the US, Japan and China, India has asserted and assumed a leadership role as technology is expected to revolutionise communication, data, telephony, health services and majorly impact warfare.

This is not just a technological leap. It will define how future wars are fought as battle field awareness, quantum computing and speed of data collection and dissemination will be the major factors.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has now formed a technology innovation group on 6G. Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman heads the group tasked with creating a roadmap for research and development (R&D) and also an action plan for the path-breaking technology.

The Tribune was among the first publications in India to point to the need for India to adopt 6G technology in an opinion piece written by founder trustee of the Pune International Centre Lt Gen SS Mehta (retd) in July 2020.

“6G is a great step, it’s a sign that we want to lead in telecom — the oil of tomorrow. Defence services in India have the wherewithal and capacities to seed, nurture and field pilot projects for 6G, and then integrate them in their doctrines,” said General Mehta while speaking to The Tribune today.

India’s move comes at a time when the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed a Bill that requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a “6G Task Force” to investigate how to design and deploy 6G technologies.

In April, a US and Japan joint statement spoke of a $4.5 billion effort to develop 6G.

In China, its new five-year plan adopted at the National People’s Congress in March included the development of 6G. In the past, India has followed other “technology leaders” when technologies changed in wireless communication from 2G to 3G and then 4G.

General Mehta, former Western Army Commander, referred to what PM Narendra Modi said during a visit to the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K. “The PM has said the right thing — warfare will change with technology,” said General Mehta.

“Today, information domination, technology and hybrid tactics have to be in tandem and in coordination... Future wars will be standoff battles with a strategy,” Modi had said. “From the Himalayas to the Indo-Pacific, 6G will enable a secure connectivity matrix befitting our size. A strategic asset for our national security,” General Mehta said.

A national 6G mission places India in the league of high-tech pioneers and to occupy a place at the global high-table, he added. The DoT innovation group on 6G has 22-members, including those from academia, industry and government. 

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