Ever since the country’s market liberalization in 1991, the storied growth of the telecom sector and its socio-economic impact in changing people’s lives and creating value across ancillary sectors has been breathtaking. In tandem with the advances in internet connectivity, computing and data, telecom has ushered a paradigm shift, leading to the growth of new sectors such as e-commerce and FinTech, which are world-class in reach, scale, as well market penetration and future outlook. With 1.18 billion mobile phone connections, India ranks second in the world after China.
The internet rates here are also among the lowest in the world along with low latency and fast speed. The ongoing digital transformation has fostered social inclusion, parity, empowered people, and enabled access to crucial services in far-flung regions. Contrast this with an advanced industrial economy such as Germany which is often referred to as an ‘Analog Republic’ for the lackadaisical pace of digitalization and public services on the internet.
Telecom Revolution 2.0
The newly launched indigenous 4G Stack, unrolled in over 22 months, marks a new phase in India’s telecom revolution. The latest chapter in the country’s telecom revolution is the launch of export-ready indigenous 4G stack. India has become the 5th country in the world todevelop an indigenous 4G stack,alongside Sweden, South Korea, China, and Denmark. Jointly developed by BSNL, TCS, Tejas Networks, and CDOT, India’s 4G stack combines software as well as hardware solutions, and is interoperable and upgrade-ready.
It is noteworthy that Ericsson, the telecom multinational, which invented the Bluetooth in 1994, developed the stack for Sweden, and most other countries adapted the global LTE( Long Term Evolution) standard for it, which took years of painstaking endeavour and research. After the failed testing in 2022, the 4G stack was completed in less than two years. Operating over 92,000 sites, and connecting 22 million people across villages, the stack will further reduce digital divide, fostering social inclusion and economic integration.
Over the past decade, India’s mobile phone exports have literally skyrocketed — growing a spectacular 127 times since 2014. With the impetus towards tech-incubation and incentives given to the EMS( Electronics Manufacturing Services), India has become the world’s third largest mobile phone exporter, signifying robust capacity building, product diversification, and seamless supply chains that unlock value.
In a drastic and rare turnaround, BSNL, the state telecom provider, which was being identified with soaring losses, missing the next wave, and inertia in innovation, has registered two consecutive profitable quarters for the first time in 18 years, signifying market as well public confidence in India’s connectivity push. Over nine telecom operators across 15 countries, from Kenya to Papua New Guinea, have shown interest in procuring the 4G stack.
The much bandied word ‘jugaad’, whose rumbles can be heard even in seminar halls of premier B-schools, doesn’t quite capture the ethos of a dynamic India which is home to domestic growth champions and turbocharged companies across sectors. From cryogenic engine, a Mars mission on a shoestring budget, to rapid boost to defence, maritime, and last mile logistics and digital connectivity, India is on the path to become a technology and innovation dynamo worth reckoning with. The prudent mix of state support, public interest, and market incentive is unleashing bootstrapped innovation which translates into entrepreneurship,
Tangle in the Near Abroad?
The Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye coined the term soft power, which refers to a country’s influence or its unique achievements which garner awe and emulation. Technology and scalable innovation are both sources of soft power, which is essentially non-hegemonic.
The sanction embattled Huawei, which is the world’s biggest telecom equipment company, operates intimately with the Chinese government. The recently released book House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company, throws light on the company and its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier and a longstanding member of the ruling Communist Party. Forget about stakeholder conflict of interest or the principal-agent problem, it is a classic case of a revolving door version of Lenin’s‘Unity of command structures’, and blurring of boundaries between the boardroom and the politburo.
The company is a critical link in China’s Digital Silk Road(DSR), a part of the ambitious One Belt, One Road Initiative, which aims to provide a range of digital services and infra from optical fibres, mobile phones, navigation systems, to smart city visualization. On the face of it, the intention is benign and pure play commercial and technological, however DSR has been called Beijing’s geopolitical tool.
“The DSR is a core piece of China’s attempt to restructure the global order through the Belt and Road Initiative”, writes John Hemmings, Director, Indo-Pacific Foreign Policy, United States Study Centre, in China’s Digital Silk Road: Economic and Technological Implications.
The criticism against it ranges from surveillance, lack of transparency and data privacy, to unfair trade terms and the notorious debt-trap diplomacy. The Chinese model of digital governance can birth monopolies and oligopolies, thwarting free and equitable local access and hidden licensing terms which can thwart true localization. Interoperability and the fear of walled-garden ecosystems that will benefit Chinese corporations to the detriment of other countries is also a lurking anxiety.
“DSR has allowed Beijing to promote its own standards, its own companies, and its own digital highway, granting it the benefits of new captive markets for Chinese tech firms, rich sources of data for analysis, and tools for leverage over foreign political and business elites”, adds Hemmings.
The 4G stack, which is 5G upgrade ready, and in the future would also be bundled with IoT and AI interface, offers India an opportunity to offer it as an inclusive, non-hegemonic counterpoise to DSR. Indian telecom operators already enjoy a footprint and goodwill in Africa. Indian companies were selected to install and rollout 5G network in Ghana. Through public-private partnerships, 4G stack can deepen trade and tech ties and offer developing countries a viable alternative to China-led DSR.
As part of its humanitarian and developmental engagement, India shares earth observation data and satellite imagery related to agriculture and disaster mitigation with countries in the neighbourhood and beyond. The bundling of 4G stack with space-based apps, and an upgraded NaVIC, the indigenous navigation system, has the potential to emerge as a serious contender to the DSR in the under-developed and developing world.
