5G India

India needs a coherent industry approach for 5G success

by | Feb 6, 2021 | Telecom

Unlike previous wireless standards, 5G in India will need a well-conceived industrial strategy, and a government buy-in.
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The last two decades have been instrumental in reshaping India’s economy. And the telecom sector has played a pivotal role in this transformation. From being voice dominated to data-centric, India’s telecom sector with over 1.17 billion connections has ensured businesses acquiring new capabilities, consumers obtaining new, exceptional services and resources. The industry is now keenly looking at the launch of 5G services to enter the next growth phase.

India’s top telecom operators have recently announced their plans to launch 5G this year. While Bharti Airtel has recently tested its live 5G network in Hyderabad using 1800 MHz spectrum, last year, Reliance Jio too had revealed its plans to launch 5G in the latter half of 2021 using standalone architecture.

There has been an upward trajectory of the learning curve, which has significantly helped the telecom sector attract global investments. Even during the COVID-19, the telecom sector, with its profound penetration of low-cost data and voice calls, kept the economy afloat and built necessary resilience. However, the 5G technology in India could realistically take at least a couple of years to make its emergence felt.  (See: Tipping point for 5G networks likely in 2023, says Report)

When introduced, 5G is likely to unleash the power of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the internet of things (IoT) to bring an altogether new era of hyper-user experience.

Laying the foundation for 5G success

Much of the 5G’s future in India would be dependent on the Indian government’s plan to leverage it for smart city services such as automating traffic signaling, street lighting, smart parking, real-time public transport information, and nursing public infrastructure through drones.

Unlike previous wireless standards, 5G needs a well-conceived industrial strategy. Many organizations are still grappling with limited device availability, policies and regulations, overhauling security architectures, and restricted use case success to form a concrete strategy around 5G.

While the Indian telcos may have set ambitious targets to be ready for commercial 5G services by the end of this year, the leap would be challenging, especially in the consumer segment, unless there is a broader range of affordable 5G devices are available.

Besides, the telecom operators, sitting on razor-thin margins, would need cost-effective but quality gear to support the new networks. This requirement could be well-supported by several flagship schemes launched by the Indian government, such as Digital India and Make in India.

Another crucial area for the success of 5G is the efficient and more customer-centric business models for enterprises. The fabric of business processes could get a turbo boost from AI-driven IoT.

While businesses are keen to know about the potential of 5G, they need to be made aware of the specific advantages offered by 5G compared to the legacy wireless technologies such as 4G and Wi-Fi. Telcos will need to demonstrate the successful use cases driven by 5G and its applicability in the Indian market. Otherwise, there is a fear that many enterprises could only see this up-gradation as an incremental improvement, which is not the case. (See: Here’s how 5G could be a catalyst for IIoT and Industry 4.0)

Resolving the telco’s dilemma

The immediate twelve months after the launch of 5G in India will be heavily focused on managing the cost and complexity of building out 5G networks, spectrum slabs, new revenue generation methodologies, and return on investment (RoI) for telecom operators.

They will also be under tremendous pressure to reimagine themselves as digital service providers while keeping a check on their operating expenses. From a user standpoint, considering the Indian economy’s price-conscious nature, telecom companies would need to reasonably launch their products and services without losing the quality quotient.

A well-crafted strategy, investment in new tools and network modernization, and comprehensive government policies will play a crucial role in addressing several of the above issues.

Learning from the global successes

In 2021, both enterprises and telecom service providers will be focusing on maintaining network services, deploying remote network monitoring solutions, expanding internet services, and undertaking research and deployments of global delivery centers.

The Indian government is also needed to develop innovative policy solutions to find the right spectrum price for forthcoming 5G auctions. Another most desirable attribute for 5G success is the availability of end-to-end solutions. Globally, many IoT-related developments are underway in remotely operated robotic surgeries, driverless vehicles, and several other connected devices and applications. India is likely to learn from the immersive experiences of global markets.

Moreover, telecom service providers will need further to develop their app ecosystems and partnerships with OTT players to garner more subscribers and ARPUs.

5G is likely to enable the next wave of industrial transformation with automated supply chain models and orchestration. However, the CIOs would look forward to lucid 5G plans from the telecom service providers rather than the transactional deliberations to achieve substantial outcomes from AI and IoT implementations.

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Water conservation drive planned for schools

Water conservation drive planned for schools

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will launch ‘Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ drive to create awareness about water conservation among all school students in the country. This mega drive would be launched at Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Auditorium, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2 in Delhi Cantt.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s impetus to Jal Sanchay, Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA). It is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach. This concept of water conservation is essential for students so that they can understand the importance of water and how it is shaping their lives meaningfully, thereby enabling them to participate in water conservation activities in their day to day lives.

The Department of School Education & Literacy, MHRD has launched the ‘Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ drive to promote water conservation activities for School Students, so that they can become competent, conscientious and committed water citizens of our nation. The department has prepared a detailed outline to implement this program in all the schools of the country.

Five major objectives of the program are:

  • To educate students learn about conservation of water
  • To sensitize Students about the impact of scarcity of water
  • To empower Students to learn to protect the natural sources of water
  • To help every Student to save at least one litre of water per day
  • To encourage Students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and school level

The program targets to achieve the following:

  • One Student – One Day – Save One Liter Water
  • One Student – One Year – Save 365 Liters Water
  • One Student – 10 Years – Save 3650 Liters Water
EoIs for biofuel coming on World Biofuel Day

EoIs for biofuel coming on World Biofuel Day

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas will organize World Biofuel Day on 10th August 2019 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate the program. Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan will be the Chief Guest of the function. This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO).”

Biofuels have the benefits of reduction of import dependence, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation. Biofuel program also compliments Government of India’s initiatives for Make in India, Swachh Bharat and increasing farmers income. A number of initiatives have been undertaken to increase production and blending of biofuels since 2014.

In India, the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying which adversely affects the health due to formation of polar compounds during frying. These polar compounds are associated with diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases among others. UCO is either not discarded at all or disposed off in an environmentally hazardous manner choking drains and sewerage systems.

The National Policy on Biofuels, released by the Government of India in 2018, envisages production of biofuel from UCO. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is implementing a strategy to divert UCO from the food value chain and curb current illegal usage. The benefits of transformation of UCO will help bring health benefits as there would be no recycling of the UCO, employment generation, infrastructural investment in rural areas & cleaner environment with reduced carbon footprint.

At present, approximately 850 crore liters of High Speed Diesel (HSD) is consumed on a monthly basis in India. The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 envisages a target of 5% blending of Biodiesel in HSD by 2030. In order to achieve the blending target, 500 crore liters of biodiesel is required in a year. In India, approximately, 22.7 MMTPA (2700 crore liters) of Cooking Oil is used out of which 1.2 MMTPA (140 crore) UCO can be collected from Bulk Consumers such as hotels, restaurants, canteens, etc. for conversion, which will give approximately 110 crore liters of biodiesel in one year. Presently there is no established collection chain for UCO. Thus, there is a huge opportunity in production of biodiesel from UCO.

To facilitate the production of Biodiesel from UCO, the Oil Marketing Companies shall float an Expression of Interest (EOI) for procurement of biodiesel from used cooking oil across 100 cities. The purpose of inviting this EOI is to encourage the applicants to set up biodiesel producing plants from used cooking oil (UCO), processing plants and further utilizing the existing potential of UCO based bio-diesel in India.

On this occasion, a sticker on RUCO viz., Repurpose Used Cooking Oil and a mobile app to facilitate the collection of UCO shall also be released by FSSAI.

Interactive sessions on Second Generation Ethanol & Biodiesel from UCO shall also be held. The sessions will focus on issues and hurdles being faced by the sector and dwell on how to overcome these hurdles for effective implementation of the blending program across the country.

Soon, 5,595 new electric buses for 64 cities 

Soon, 5,595 new electric buses for 64 cities 

Electric bus charging (representative image).

The Department of Heavy Industry has approved the sanction of 5,595 electric buses to 64 Cities, State Government Entities, and State Transport Undertakings (STUs) for intra-city and intercity operation under FAME India scheme phase II in order to give a further push to clean mobility in public transportation.

The Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-India) Scheme proposes to give a push to electric vehicles (EVs) in public transport and seeks to encourage adoption of EVs by way of market creation and demand aggregation.

The Department had invited the Expression of Interest (EoI) from million-plus cities, smart cities, State/UT capitals and cities from special category states for submission of proposal for deployment of electric buses on operational cost basis.

Eight six proposals from 26 States/UTs for the deployment of 14,988 e-Buses were received. After evaluation of these proposals as per EoI, on the advice of Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee (PISC) the Government sanctioned 5095 electric buses to 64 Cities / State Transport Corporations for intra-city operation, 400 electric buses for intercity operation, and 100 electric buses for last-mile connectivity to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Each selected City/STUs is required to initiate the procurement process in a time bound manner for deployment of sanctioned electric buses on operational cost basis. As per EoI, buses which satisfy required localization level and technical eligibility notified under FAME India scheme phase II will be eligible for funding under FAME India scheme phase II.

These buses will run about 4 billion kilometers during their contract period and are expected to save cumulatively about 1.2 billion liters of fuel over the contract period, which will result into avoidance of 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emission.

Workshop lays focus on bamboonomics

Workshop lays focus on bamboonomics

A tribal woman (representative image)

Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs inaugurated a “National Workshop on Tribal Enterprise with focus on Honey, Bamboo and Lac” organized by TRIFED and Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in Delhi today. Renuka Singh, MoS for Tribal Affairs, Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, MoTA and Pravir Krishna, MD, TRIFED were present. Munda released flyers and reports on bamboo and bamboonomics; lac; and honey on the occasion. A National Workshop was organized to fine-tune its action plan on promoting tribal enterprise on bamboo, honey, and lac.

Delivering the inaugural address, Munda said that the focus of such efforts should not be confined to job creation only but should focus on fulfilling the needs of the market. Support system and research should be market driven and equilibrium should be maintained between the demand and supply in the market. For these products, markets should be innovation and research based. The quality and prices of the products should also be maintained properly. The tribals should be treated as entrepreneurs and efforts should be made to upgrade them in technology.

Addressing on the occasion, Renuka Singh said that such initiatives will strengthen ‘Van Dhan Vikas Kendras.’ The integration of ‘Van Dhan, Jan Dhan and Pashu Dhan’ will reform the lives of tribals considerably. Van Dhan scheme has the cluster of self-help groups to support tribals and is the mainstay for their family income who are living in and around the forest areas.

Deepak Khandekar in his welcome address said that the reason behind bamboo, honey and lac taken up for Van Dhan Scheme is that, these commodities are already having existing markets which enable producers i.e. tribal entrepreneurs catch on to the chain of procurement- primary level processing-storage value addition and marketing.

After inaugural session, technical sessions were held on the bamboo products, lac products and honey in which experts presented their presentations on the success stories, production, use and business related to these products. National Workshop was an initiative to formulate a strategy for establishing tribal enterprises based on skill and local resources available particularly in bamboo, honey and lac. In the workshop, national and international experts deliberated and gave their views and ideas for establishing implementable and commercially viable tribal enterprises. The expert insight and deliberation will explore the significance of bamboo, lac and honey to address livelihoods of tribal communities across the country. The workshop also introduced feasible technologies and process for production of value-added products from bamboo, lac and honey.

Bamboo
India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 general (out of which about 19 care indigenous) spread over 13.96 million hectares. According to the Union Ministry of Agricultural and Former Welfare, India’s annual bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tons. Poor yield of Bamboo is one of the perennial problems in India. In contrast to China’s average yield of 50 MT/Ha, the maximal yield range in India is 10-15 MT/ha. This shows that there is lot of scope for bamboo enterprise based on the good stock. The bamboo is used in different types of products and it is a very good earning option for the tribals, for which necessary seed money, facilities and expertise need to be provided to tribal artisans. The bamboo enterprises can give immediate results leading to substantial increase in income of tribal artisans.

Honey
“As per the latest data from the ‘National Bee Board’ under the Department of Agriculture, the country’s total honey production reported in 2017-18 was 1.05 lakh metric tonnes, compared to the 35,000 metric tonnes in 2005-06. The major part of it comes from Apisdorsata. With international demand for honey growing, India exports 50 per cent of the commodity and in the last 12 years, exports have increased by 207 per cent. India has exported 61,333.88 MT of natural honey worth Rs 732.16 crores i.e. USD 105.48 million dollars to USA, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia. Morocco, Qatar Germany, UK, Japan, France, Spain and Italy being the main markets.

The tribals can be provided with trainings along with tools and kits for scientific extraction/collection and processing of honey from the beehive and thus the tribal SHGs can play a crucial role in this regard. Besides collaboration with KVlC, there is a need to collaborate with the forest departments for wild honey collection and protection, conservation and propagation of the tree species like Adina Cardifolia and Trivia Nudiflora that are preferred by bees to nest colonies.

As per the latest government estimates, large scale employment in the beekeeping sector is estimated to generate around 3 lakh man-working days by maintaining 10,000 bee colonies. The honey is an excellent source of earning and TRIFED is committed towards Prime Minister’s vision of a “Sweet Revolution” by way of making people prosper though production and trade in honey.

Lac
“Lac resin was once imported in sizeable quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. It has been seen that the Lac is mostly cultivated by poor tribals to supplement their agricultural income. Lac cultivation in India is mainly confined to the states of Jharkhand which contribute 57% of the total production, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 24% and the balance 19% is contributed by Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. This cultivation has proved to be a subsidiary source of income for the tribals. In the mid-1950s. Indian annual production was about 50, 000 tons of stick lac and export about 29,000 tons of lac. By the late 1980s, the figures were about 12,000 tons and 7,000 tons respectively. However, during 1992-93, Indian lac exports fell further to 4,500 tons only. On the contrary, during the same period, the countries like Thailand & China were able to increase their lac exports. Presently Indian lac export is almost non-existent, which needs to be revived. Lac with its availability and possibilities of cultivation in tribal areas has a great potential in creating livelihood and income generation opportunities for tribal communities.

Karnataka lowers tariffs for grid connected solar

Karnataka lowers tariffs for grid connected solar

(Representative image)

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission has, in a recent order, determined new generic tariff for solar projects, as below:

  1. Rs 3.08 per unit for grid connected megawatt scale solar power projects of less than 5MW capacity;
  2. Rs 3.07 per unit (without capital subsidy) and Rs 2.32 only per unit (with capital subsidy) for grid connected solar rooftop photovoltaic projects of 1kW to 2000kW; and
  3. Rs 3.99 per unit (without capital subsidy) and Rs 2.97 per unit (with capital subsidy) for grid connected solar rooftop photovoltaic projects of I kW to 10 kW for domestic consumers;

The above tariff shall be applicable to all such new solar power projects for which PPAs are entered into on or after 1 April 2019 and approved by the Commission after the date of issue of this order, that achieve commercial operation on or after 1 April.

The tenure of the PPA, shall be for the life of the solar power projects, which is considered 25 years.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission has been promoting generation of power from renewable sources, by determining the feed-in-tariff (generic tariff) periodically, based on the normative operational and financial parameters for different control periods from the year 2005 onwards.

The Commission, vide its Order dated 18 May 2018 had determined a levelized tariff of Rs 3.05 per unit for Megawatt scale solar projects and Rs 3.56 per unit for kW scale solar rooftop photovoltaic projects, applicable for the life of the projects, i.e., 25 years. This Order was in force till 31 March 2019.

Now, Hyundai starts work on an electric race car

Now, Hyundai starts work on an electric race car

Hyundai Motorsport says it has begun work on its first ever electric race car in a new project that will herald a new motorsport era for the company. The car, which has been designed and built at Hyundai Motorsport’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany, will break cover for the first time on September 10, the media day of the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt.

The move to electric continues the growth of Hyundai Motorsport, which has become well established in rallying and circuit racing since its inception in 2012. The multiple rally-winning WRC team, now in its sixth season, is currently leading a closely fought Manufacturers’ Championship.

The company also boasts a successful Customer Racing division, established in September 2015, which has developed the competitive i20 R5, i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR cars that have between them claimed victories and championships in motorsport series around the world. The first glimpses of the new car can be seen in videos published on Hyundai Motorsport’s Social Media channels, offering a hint of what is to come at the official reveal next month.

Mirroring the move towards hybrid technology and electrification in the automotive industry, motorsport has also ventured into new territory in recent years with the introduction of electric and hybrid series and regulations. This exciting new chapter promises to showcase Hyundai’s high-performance capabilities, its green technology credentials and its unwavering passion for motorsport.

“A new era is dawning at Hyundai Motorsport. For many months, our team in Alzenau has been working hard on an exciting electric vehicle and soon we will be able to share the fruits of these labours,” Andrea Adamo, Team Director said. “It promises to be a new chapter for our company, a natural extension to our motorsport activities, one that links closely to the current trends and innovations in the wider automotive industry. There’s not much longer to wait; all will be revealed at the IAA in Frankfurt in early September.”

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