Develop local used cases and IPR in 5G, says telecom body COAI

NEW DELHI: At a time when the 5G spectrum auctions appear to have been delayed till next year, industry body COAI has said that the government should facilitate creation of indigenous IPR around the high-speed mobile technology by developing local used cases through engagement with start-ups and businesses.
Rajan Mathews, DG of COAI, said that while the government looks at an appropriate time to sell the 5G spectrum, it should use the intervening period to carry out the groundwork related to the technology, especially with regards to developing India-specific solutions around the network and usage.
“We feel that enterprises gain substantial benefits when 5G is rolled out. Areas such as cloud computing, edge computing, industry 4.0, robotics, remote surgery and artificial intelligence require higher computational power and extremely low latency,” Mathews said, adding that, “These cannot be met at the 4G level. They require 5G.”
The government is looking to carry out spectrum auctions for 4G later this year, though it is expected to delay the 5G sale to next year in view of the difficult financial condition of companies such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea.