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India will have its own Nokia in 2-3 years

18. 04. 2023 Tuesday / By: Robert Denes / Industrial / Exact time: BST / Print this page

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As telecom technology and equipment gain traction following the launch of 5G services, Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) CEO Rajkumar Upadhyay is confident that the government's push for domestic design and manufacturing will pave the way for India's own players who the world's big companies, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia, compete strongly.

"Take my word for it." In the next 2-3 years, there will be at least 2-3 Ericssons, Huaweis and Nokias in India. These (domestic players) are coming up because the first booster went through the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme,” Upadhyay told FE in an interview.

He said that once Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) launches its 4G and 5G services, it will prove the capability of the domestic technology for which the government has already started getting interest from other countries.

C-DOT came into the limelight for developing India's own 4G-5G technology suite, a software that handles end-to-end call control over the network. The solution has been tested by state-owned BSNL to launch 4G services and is expected to go commercial next month with equipment supplied by Tejas Networks (part of a consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services).

“Once BSNL successfully rolls out domestic solutions, we will start partnering with other telecom operators like Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Jio,” said Upadhyay.

He added that nowhere in the world is a single company or consortium providing complete 4G and 5G technology solutions such as billing, customer support, network management system and predictive fault maintenance etc. and India will be the first to do so.

For India, the returns will be at least 10x in the medium term once vendors like TCS and Tejas and C-DOT start exporting 4G-5G stack solutions, Upadhyay said.

He said some people argue "why don't we buy systems that are cheaper somewhere instead of making them ourselves". "It's an economic argument. We also look at security. Today, the world is connected via the Internet, all systems are connected, so safety becomes of utmost importance," explained the CEO of C-DOT.

Asked whether private telecom companies would opt for Indian solutions over Ericsson and Nokia, Upadhyay said, "It's an evolving market and there is scope for more players."

“First of all, our solutions are affordable, highly reliable and advanced compared to the rest of the world. Secondly, there is an exchange cycle of equipment and technologies, and our solutions will definitely be taken into account there," he added.

In addition to the 4G-5G stack, C-DOT is also working on the development of 4G and 5G radios. Production of 4G radios has begun in India. C-DOT is exclusively working on 5G radios and developing the same with partners VVDN Technologies, Wisig Networks and Radisys India.

"Our 5G radios are coming this year. We are currently testing solutions for the 5G NSA (non-standalone architecture) network. We will soon launch 5G SA (standalone architecture) solutions,” said Upadhyay.

Owned by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), C-DOT has an annual budget of Rs 500 crore, of which Rs 100-200 crore is used for research and development (R&D) and the rest mainly for operational costs such as staff costs. salaries. In 2021–22, the organization generated revenue of Rs 171 crore, largely from technology support, transfer and royalty income.

“This institution was created to build technology and create indirect benefits for the country. With a budget of Rs 500 crore, we have produced great results and will continue to do better. Money is not a challenge for the government,” Upadhyay said, adding that while there is no profit motive, the organization will eventually benefit from the traction that Indian technology has gained.

On C-DOT's privatization plans, Upadhyay said, “It was just a proposal that came up and will only happen if the need calls for it. However, the organization will soon consider joint ventures with private companies on specific projects to turn C-DOT into a global hub. It will also soon open R&D centers in cities like Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad.

When it comes to talent retention challenges, C-DOT ranks higher than information technology (IT) companies with an average salary, it relies on an employee-oriented culture. The organization, which currently employs 1,000 employees, intends to increase its staff to 1,500 in the financial year 24, for which it has already made offers to 400 candidates. The average pay band of C-DOT is Rs.30 lakh per annum.

Talent is key to design and innovation at C-DOT. We gave lucrative offers to young professionals who got an opportunity to work with the latest cutting-edge technology,”“ said Upadhyay“.

The organization works on a technology transfer model and has produced technologies in areas such as disaster management through a common alert protocol, network management, security, switching and routing, Wi-Fi, etc.

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