by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Emerging Businesses, Markets, Online Marketing, SMEs, Technology
New Delhi : Software major Tech Mahindra on Friday announced the setting up of a new business unit to leverage cutting-edge technology and solutions to cater to the expected heavy demand of video services in the 5G ecosystem.
With the establishment of the new “Video Integration and Engineering” (VIE) platform, Tech Mahindra said it would aim to improve its strategic position with several video distribution companies in the US.
“The strategic establishment of the VIE platform will help us increase our expertise in developing niche applications and services as well as cater to the exponentially growing digital video services market,” CP Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra said in a statement.
According to industry reports, video will account for 90 per cent of all 5G traffic mainly on account of mobile video and Over The Top (OTT) streaming services.
5G is expected to grow the global mobile media market over cellular networks from $170 billion in 2018 to $420 billion in 2028.
Consumer spend for video, music, and games on mobile is expected to nearly double by 2028 to reach almost $150 billion globally.
“Our endeavour is to speed up the digital transformation of video for our clients and help reduce the costs and open up other revenue generation avenues for our clients and partners,” said Manish Vyas, President, Communications, Media and Entertainment Business, and the CEO, Network Services at Tech Mahindra.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs, Technology
Seoul : Samsung Electronics Co plans to launch its first foldable smartphone in March, along with a fifth-generation (5G) network-powered Galaxy S10, industry sources said on Monday.
According to the sources, the South Korean tech giant plans to unveil the flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone in February, followed by the presumed foldable Galaxy F and another edition of the Galaxy S10 that runs on the 5G network in March, Yonhap news agency reported.
The outlook came after Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin, who heads the mobile business, said last week that the company will release a foldable smartphone within the first half of 2019.
Koh said the shipment volume of the foldable smartphone will be at least 1 million.
Industry watchers said Samsung is expected to showcase the upcoming foldable smartphone in the Mobile World Congress in February, ahead of the official launch in the following month.
The much-awaited foldable smartphone, however, is not expected to support the 5G network.
While the price of the foldable smartphone has not been decided, industry watchers said it may cost around 2 million won ($1,770). The steep price is expected to limit sales.
Samsung said the upcoming foldable smartphone will fold inward and will sport a 7.4-inch screen when unfolded and have a 4.6-inch display like a regular smartphone when folded.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Networking, Technology
By Rituraj Baruah,
New Delhi : India’s 5G dream can only become a reality once adequate fibre connections are installed, as the country significantly lags on this front, Broadband India Forum (BIF) President T.V. Ramachandran has stressed.
Fibre connections in the country have declined and not increased over the years, he pointed out.
“When I came to the (telecom) sector in 1994, India had about 47 million (connections). Now, it has only 20 million fixed-line connections.
“If you are using microwave, you cannot even make use of newer technology… 5G cannot happen if there is not enough fibre,” Ramachandran told IANS in an interview.
The quantum of fibre placed underground in India is 1/15th of that in the US and 1/10th of that in China, the BIF President pointed out, adding that as against 80 per cent of towers in China connected with fibre, only 20 per cent of towers in India are currently fibre-connected.
Ramachandran, who is the founding President of the industry policy forum, observed: “Pre-dominantly, in other countries, broadband is generally wired broadband, whether you call it landline or optic fibre that has got limitless capacity… so that is always the basis for broadband in most countries.”
He was of the opinion that although the reach of mobile broadband is increasing, it has to work with fixed-line broadband.
Explaining the need for fibre connectivity, Ramachandran said although mobile broadband is on the rise, “ultimately, mobile traffic has to hauled back on fixed line”.
“Microwave does not have the capacity to carry heavy data. So, it is inevitable that you need a fixed-line connection,” he emphasised.
The BIF President, however, was optimistic about the government’s emphasis on the issue as it plans to set up a National Fibre Authority.
The Ministry of Communications in the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018 released on September 26 said it would create a National Fibre Authority to accelerate fibre deployment in the country.
Speaking on shortage of Wi-Fi hotspots, Ramachandran noted that the country currently has just around 35,000. “For India’s size of population, we don’t have eight million hotspots, or even one lakh at the moment,” Ramachandran stressed.
The recent announcement by the Communications Minister Manoj Sinha at the India Mobile Congress (IMC 2018) that telecom operators would roll out one million Wi-Fi hotspots was a “big beginning”, Ramachandran noted.
He also said that the Department of Telecommunication’s decision in October to delicense 605MHz (megahertz) of the 5GHz (gigahertz) band would increase the availability of radio-waves by 12 times of the existing capacity.
The decision would help in removing one of the major barriers cited for creation of hotspots — the lack of availability of sufficient delicensed Wi-Fi spectrum, Ramachandran said.
Despite the challenges in the sector, he is hopeful that 5G connectivity would be commercially rolled out in the country — in particular regions if not nationwide — in 2020.
Major trials would be required for around a year in 5G and “2019 is the year for trials”, he emphasised.
The government has laid down a 2020 timeline for the launch of 5G connectivity in the country.
“I would think 2019 will go in for progressively build up… It has to be in Delhi, Mumbai, semi-urban and rural areas. All these will have to be covered and we will need a lot of time for that. So, that phase I foresee In 2019,” Ramachandran explained.
On being asked about the likely disruption in the fixed-line broadband market with the upcoming entry of Jio GigaFiber, Ramachandran, a former Director General of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said it is “clear” that another disruption would happen.
Describing the disruption of 2016 as “painful”, he said a shake-up had been due for long, adding that it had ultimately resulted in a “sustainable” market.
(Rituraj Baruah can be contacted at rituraj.b@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Corporate Reports, Markets, Networking, Online Marketing, Technology
Gurugram : When it comes to 5G adoption in India, the government needs to play a big role as a consumer to make it a success, a report said on Monday.
The government needs to be proactive in demand generation as in the enablement of 5G in India, said the report from market research firm techARC.
“The government has a critical role in the demand generation in case of 5G services. The initial feasible use cases are expected to come from organisations including the government,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Principal Analyst, techARC.
“The government’s role is equally indispensable in the demand creation as in the technology enablement,” he added.
According to the report, there is as important rural applicability of 5G as in urban areas and 5G can increase the digital presence in rural India.
“Make in India” should focus beyond smartphones as a lot of 5G device types will be required other than smartphones.
“Government should not haste in 5G auctions. The ecosystem does not seem to reap from it before 2020,” said the report.
“Considering the preparedness of the telecom ecosystem, the optimal use of 5G can only start after 2020, which is when the spectrum auctions should take place,” said Kawoosa.
A special 5G incubation and startup programme may be launched to encourage startups develop the ecosystem for 5G, the report added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, World
Berlin : Germany is preparing for the introduction of the new 5G mobile communications standard. “If we want to continue to play in the premier league of technology countries, we must now set the course for this,” said Dirk Woessner, management board member of Deutsche Telekom at a press conference at the consumer electronics fair IFA in Berlin on Friday.
The frequencies for 5G are expected to be auctioned at the beginning of 2019. The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) had already presented first conditions for the auction on Thursday. “We always wanted to be in front when it comes to the allocation of frequencies,” agency president Jochen Homann told the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Xinhua reported.
The targets set by the network agency stipulate that by 2022 at least 98 percent of households in Germany should have access to an internet connection with a minimum of 100 megabits per second.
Motorways and federal highways are too be supplied with at least 100 megabits per second by 2022. With at least 50 Mbit/s, the speed target for mobile broadband on short and long-distance passenger railways is half as high.
Unlike 4G the current mobile standard, 5G will not have national roaming, as 5G providers will not be required to give competitors access to their networks. “It is legally not possible to oblige network operators to make their networks available to other providers,” emphasized Homann.
A quarter of the 5G frequencies will be reserved for local and regional applications and are not intended to be auctioned off. This should enable “as many business models as possible in the industrial and agricultural sectors”, as the Bundesnetzagentur resolution states.
The German Federal Network Agency is not expecting a bidding war like in 2000. Back then, almost 50 billion euros ($58.2 billion) were generated at the UMTS license auction. “The Bundesnetzagentur does not aim for maximizing revenues,” Homann said.
—IANS
