5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 14, Apr 2022

Reference News:-

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for “5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program (VEPP)” initiative to build strong collaboration partnerships across 5G Use-case ecosystem stakeholders. 

About the 5G VEPP:

• It is an Initiative, where the DoT will “facilitate necessary approvals, regulatory clearances to enable use case prototyping, pilots, demos, trials at the user or vertical industry premises”.
• The DoT will facilitate access to experimental spectrum, access to testbeds and engagement with academia, other ministries for necessary regulatory policies and pilots wherever feasible. 

Objectives:

It seeks to build strong collaboration partnerships across 5G Use-case ecosystem stakeholders with velocity and with an exclusive emphasis to address User/Vertical Industry needs. 

Significance:

It will enable close collaboration between User verticals and 5G Tech stakeholders (Service providers, Solution providers & partner Original Equipment Manufacturers), which can trigger a multiplier effect to try & finetune 5G digital solutions in respective economic verticals. 

Where does India stand in terms of trials and launch?

• The government has said the auction of 5G spectrum would take place in March or April 2022. Some experts say it could be delayed by at least one quarter as telecom service providers are yet to complete their trials and test various aspects.
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is in the final stages of stakeholder consultations, and is likely to submit its recommendations to the DoT early 2022.
• Meanwhile, Private Telecom companies have progressed at various levels regarding the rollout of 5G – like conducting trials, testing speeds and building indigenous 5G networks. 

What is 5G?

• 5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will eventually replace, or at least augment 4G LTE connection.

Features and benefits of the 5G technology:

1. Operate in the millimeter wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which have the advantage of sending large amounts of data at very high speeds.
2. Operate in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum.
3. Reduced latency will support new applications that leverage the power of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence.
4. Increased capacity on 5G networks can minimize the impact of load spikes, like those that take place during sporting events and news events.

Significance of the technology:

India’s National Digital Communications Policy 2018 highlights the importance of 5G when it states that the convergence of a cluster of revolutionary technologies including 5G, the cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics, along with a growing start-up community, promise to accelerate and deepen its digital engagement, opening up a new horizon of opportunities.