India Mobile Congress 2023 Day 1: After 5G rollout, India is now eyeing to take lead with 6G tech

The 7th Edition of the three-day India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2023, kicked-off today at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today. Demonstrating this year's theme of "Global Digital Innovation", the event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the event witnessed delegates and exhibitors showcasing innovative technologies, ideas and use cases across key industries and sectors.

During the inauguration, Prime Minister Modi recalled the 5G rollout which took place last year in India that has surprised the world. He emphasized that India did not halt after the success of 5G and took on the work of taking it to every individual. “India moved from the 5G rollout stage to 5G reach out stage”, he said. Within one year of 5G rollout, the Prime Minister informed about the development of 4 lakh 5G base stations which cover more than 97 percent of the cities and 80 percent of the population. Even the speed of median mobile broadband speeds has increased 3 times within one year. He added that India moved from the 118th position to the 43rd position in terms of broadband speed. “India is not only expanding the 5G network in the country but also laying emphasis on becoming a leader in 6G”, he remarked. He also expressed confidence that India will take the lead with 6G technology.

In addition, Prime Minister Modi awarded 100 ‘5G Use Case Labs’ to educational institutions across the country. The ‘100 5G labs initiative’, is an endeavour to realize the opportunities associated with 5G technology by encouraging the development of 5G applications which cater, both to India’s unique needs as well as the global demands. The unique initiative will help foster innovation across various socioeconomic sectors like education, agriculture, health, power, transportation etc, and propel the country into the forefront of usage of 5G technology. The initiative is also a pivotal step for building a 6G-ready academic and start-up ecosystem in the country.

At this year’s India Mobile Congress 2023, the event also introduced ‘Aspire’, a pioneering start-up program & ‘Robo Blitz’, a robo wars event for the first time. While ‘Aspire’ laid emphasis on igniting the future of entrepreneurship growth among young innovators and industry delegates in the telecom and other digital domains; ‘Robo Blitz’ competition invited young engineers and technology enthusiasts to demonstrate their skills in robotics. 

The first day of the event also encapsulated the cutting-edge technology landscape and witnessed discussions around telecom & digital infrastructure, automation and AI, Data Privacy, satellite communication, 6G technology, drone applications, rural connectivity and Industrial IOTs. The sessions highlighted, explained and depicted a path to innovation and entrepreneurship through sustainable development goals. It also exemplified how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a transformative footprint to future technology and how this will help in making the world a digital ground to work with, while also highlighting 5G/6G being the platform for taking off to fulfil these ideals by making it affordable & accessible to public for World’s Digital Adaptation.