Indian telecom players eye 10% share in 6G patents in 3 years

Telecom growth: Indian telecom companies are eyeing a big share by winning 10 per cent of the global 6G patents and contributing one-sixth of the inputs to international 6G standards in the next three years, an official statement issued on Saturday said.

The recommendation was considered in the second meeting of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee, Telecom Service Providers, presided over by Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday. Industry leaders pitched for lining up research pursuits with "India's needs" and creating a vibrant "Standards Community" for these pursuits to bear fruit.

"Industry leaders recommended systematic alignment of research to the 'Needs of India' and a vibrant 'Standards Community' to achieve a share of 10 per cent of all 6G patents and contributions of one-sixth to global standards in three years," a statement said.

The meeting deliberated on International standards, the share of India in Intellectual Property and Standard Essential Patents, and how to bridge the connectivity gaps and quality improvement of telecom services in the country. Indeed, India has already walked a long way for this objective, which includes launching Bharat 6G Vision setting up the Bharat 6G Alliance, and framing a patent and IPR support framework. Testbeds have also been commissioned to support research and development in this area. The SAC has proposed a three-year roadmap to achieve these targets, with the aim of positioning India as a deep-tech leader with widespread penetration of wireline and intelligent wireless broadband networks.

Minister Scindia called upon the SAC members to define a critical path and delineate the roles of various stakeholders, including the government, in achieving these goals. He also called upon the telecom service providers to take all necessary measures to ensure that high-quality telecom services are available to the citizens.

The others who attended the meeting included Reliance Jio Managing Director Pankaj Pawar, Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Robert J Ravi, Tejas Networks Chairman N G Subramaniam, and COAI Director General S P Kochhar. The operators underlined the requirement of a congenial policy framework for facilitating investments that would help achieve the goal of 100% broadband coverage all over the country.