Native 5G model must to aid education, agri, healthcare: Ravi Shankar Prasad

India’s appetite for 5G is going to be overpowering and therefore businesses must play a proactive role in creating a ‘desi 5G model’ that is inclusive and supportive of healthcare, education and farming, urged Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice.

He said India had missed opportunities around 2G and 3G but wouldn’t want to miss out on 5G. Therefore, the country has developed an Indian test bed involving the IITs so that all innovative aspects of 5G could be explored.

“Indian players must be proactive in creating an inclusive Indian 5G model as the country’s appetite for mobile technology is going to be so huge,” he said while speaking at the India Digital Summit organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India on Tuesday.

On the response to the Centre’s Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, he said, “All the top companies have applied and they have committed to making mobile phones and equipment worth ₹10 lakh crore in the country in the next 5 years out of which ₹7 lakh crore will be meant for exports,” he added.

“We have become the second-biggest mobile manufacturer in the world, and it is my wish to make India number one... We must also become a lead player in laptops, machine-to-machine equipment, tablets and IoT devices. We can easily create that ecosystem,” he said.