COAI’s proposal envisioning Rural India Broadband connectivity now approved

A proposal presented by the COAI carrying the vision of Connecting Rural India with High-Speed Mobile Broadband has been approved by the WP-5D of the ITU. In a boost for rural connectivity, the COAI initiative will ensure that the 5G system will now satisfy the Indian rural requirements.

At the recently concluded meeting of the ITU-R terrestrial radio systems (WP5D) in Canada, the Indian delegation consisting of members from the Telecom Engineering Center (TEC), the research wing of DoT, COAI, TSDSI, industry and academia championed the mandatory evaluation of a configuration called Low Mobility Large Cell (LMLC). This configuration is specifically designed with rural India in mind, and is likely become a game changer.

In the 2017 Annual Budget, Shri Arun Jaitley, the Hon. Finance Minister of India, propagated the extension of high-speed internet connectivity to 1,50,000 villages across the nation.

Manoj Sinha, the MoS Communication, has been working tirelessly to expand connectivity across rural India and bridge the Digital divide. The industry has been an equal partner in supporting the Prime Minister’s vision of a fully-connected India,” said Rajan S. Mathews, DG, COAI, sharing with the media this recent development at the WP (Working Party)-5D Meeting at ITU. But with a huge gap in connectivity and internet penetration, it has turned out to be a difficult task for the policy- makers.

Rajan Mathews, DG, COAI, said, “Considering the view that this approval has come at a time when we are working hard to improve the quality of service for our customers, and in supporting the Govt. of India on the policy initiatives they are taking for rural connectivity.” He added, “The COAI with its members will be working with the Indian administration and other stakeholders to pursue this further in 3GPP, a telecom standard setting body, and ensure that the support for LMLC in the 5G specification is created. Support from a global standards body brings in scales of manufacturing, which is the key to keeping cost low. In a price-sensitive market like India, this sort of consensus building and global cooperation is a definitive need.”

COAI members worked with the relevant telecom stakeholders in the country to make this requirement an inherent part of the work plan in the next-generation system designs. The Working Party 5D (WP5D) of ITU-R and the third-generation partnership project (3GPP) were identified to be good channels to have these discussions and building systems. As part of the consultation exercise, COAI jointly with ITU-APT Foundation of India, TSDSI, also reached out to research entities in the country, including several leading IITs for creating the proposal which has now been approved by the WP-5D of the ITU, as an evaluation scenario which new radio systems should satisfy for qualifying as 5G. Thus, through the COAI-led initiative this will ensure that the 5G system will satisfy the Indian rural scenario requirement.

Tags: COAI, Rural India Broadband connectivity, Connecting Rural India, 2017 Annual Budget, Finance Minister of India, Low Mobility Large Cell, LMLC, Manoj Sinha MoS Communication, Rajan S Mathews DG COAI