CII Communique - December, 2010

telecom
sectoral synergies
Enabling Information Infrastructure
Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT- Madras; Yao Weimin, Sr VP, Huawei Tecommunications (India); and
Sanjay Kapoor, Chairman CII National Committee on Telecom & Broadband & CEO, Bharti Airtel Ltd (India & SA)
The CII Conclave on “Multidimensional
Telecom Growth Building & Enabling Information
Infrastructure”, held on 12-13 November in New
Delhi, deliberated on the future challenges, business
opportunities, and the need to exploit the advances in
technology in the telecom sector.
Telecom in India is turning
o u t t o b e a n e s s e n t i a l
service that ensures smooth
functioning of citizens’ daily
lives and businesses, helping
them become socially and
financial inclusive and globally
c o m p e t i t i v e . M r S a n j a y
Kapoor, Chairman, CII Telecom
Committee, and Chief Executive
Officer, Bharti Airtel Ltd, India &
South Asia, said the Telecom
industry has impacted not only
job creation with multiplier effect
but has also brought scale and
sustainability in small and tiny
entrepreneurial activities across
the country. Home delivery is
a thriving business model which rides solely on the
telecom platform. In the future, multiple SIMs will be
used to support multifarious applications hitherto not
imagined, he said.
Dr Jhunjhunwala advocated ease of Mergers and
Acquisitions for telecom operators, as too much
competition has brought down prices but is no more
keeping businesses viable.
The need for regulation in the handset industry, the
level of QoS required for data, the question of whether
there is enough spectrum for all the operators and the
process of product launches in the telecom industry
were discussed at the conclave.
There is an imminent need for broadband infrastructure
for providing all kinds of services,
and therefore laying down fibre
to all towers is necessary. It was
discussed that there should be an
environment that allows operators
to share already auctioned
spectrum without additional
resource mobilisation on the
part of the government. The
need to push for more product
manufacturing and IPR creation in
telecommunication and emphasis
on entrepreneurship support
to nurture and build required
ecosystem was stressed.
T h e i m p a c t o f 3 G o n
m-commerce and the role
which telecom providers will
play in Mobile-banking and the
latest developments in multi-lingual applications
were discussed. Mr Kapoor said that telcos can
play an important support role with banks and
financial institutions in achieving financial inclusion.
Mr Yao Weimin, Senior Vice President, Huwaei
Telecommunications, spoke about how organisations
and industry can take up Social Responsibility by
delivering essential services to rural India, like telemedicine
and e-education.
Communiqué December 2010 | 29