'When you think of cross-border payments, the first things that come to mind are risk, compliance, taxation, speed, and cost.'
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to make a presentation detailing the pros and cons of the controversial Indian 5G standard, also known as 5Gi, which the government has been pushing for. The move comes after serious differences emerged among telcos with regard to the technology's efficacy and implementation.
'Instead of the government and telecom operators solving the mess of their own creation, they're telling us we need to give access to our phones perpetually.'
The operators say that the move to have an India-specific standard will raise the costs not only of telecom networks but of chipsets for mobile devices because they will have to be made for the local market and, as such, will not enjoy global economies of scale.
'Similar to the case of the digital payment system where the government created a public platform and others joined in, we are exploring a similar structure to create a PPP platform where the compute required for AI could be accessed by the small player.'
The 5G road map pursued by India should not only move the country forward but also result in progress of weaker sections of society.
Appropriate policies will increase connectivity much more than spectrum auctions, says Shyam Ponappa.
Penalty must act as a deterrent. If it is too low, it could encourage the regulated entities to lap up penalty instead of complying with the norms, suggests Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Kapil Sibal said there will be multiple places from where cyber war could take place, it will involve individuals, sections of society, businesses, terrorists, drug dealers and those who want to generate violence.
Technology can certainly gain India membership in the comity of modern nations in the 21st century.
Amid increasing number of cyber attacks and snooping, the government on Tuesday announced the national cyber security policy that aims to protect information and build capabilities to prevent such attacks.
Absence of comprehensive data protection and privacy laws will be barriers in the government's digitalisation drive.
'Let me talk about young Indian startups with their hearts in the right place and how they are proving that innovations that represent 'affordable excellence' -- breaking the myth that 'affordability' and 'excellence' cannot go together -- is indeed possible!' says Dr R A Mashelkar, the eminent scientist, in this fascinating feature.
Use of blockchain technology will ensure that banks will not be blindsided like in the case of the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi blowout at PNB, says Raghu Mohan.
Tamal Bandyopadhyay details HDFC Bank's digital journey.
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