Ashwini Vaishnaw successfully tests 5G call at IIT Madras; 'designed & developed in India'

Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s first 5G testbed to enable startups and reduce dependence on foreign facilities, Minister for Communications, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, shared a video of a successful 5G call testing at IIT Madras, which has been entirely developed in India.

"We're proud of the IIT-Madras team which has developed the 5G test pad which will provide huge opportunities to the entire 5G development ecosystem and the Hyperloop initiative. Railways Ministry will fully support the Hyperloop initiative," said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The Union Minister tweeted:

Earlier, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal remarked that India has progressed significantly from 2G/3G to 4G and now 5G, further underlining the nation's progress towards a transparent and effective government. He added that India is giving the digital industry the boost it needs, and it is already yielding positive consequences. According to a press release from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Goyal stated, “5G will contribute $450 bn to the Indian economy in next 15 years and the launch of indigenous 5G testbed by PM will be a milestone towards Aatmanirbharta in the telecom.” 

5G Set To Spawn Massive Job Opportunities: Telecom Secretary

Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman on Wednesday had asserted that the advent of 5G and new services would usher, and spawn fresh job opportunities in the market, requiring suitable skilling of manpower in new technologies. He further said that from BharatNet to space communications, and from 5G to fixed line broadband services, the telecom sector would unlock new job requirements of various categories.

"5G growth will come from number of use case it would permit in various industrial settings...5G, because of nature of technology and capability it offers, will open up new range of skills," Rajaraman said.

The top DoT official also affirmed that 5G will spur jobs in areas like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Internet of Things and other areas.

(With Agency Inputs)