3G will aid India’s evolution to high-end design and manufacturing

At long last, India has kicked off its long-delayed 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum auction. The much-awaited auction, said to be one of the biggest 3G auctions in the world given the total addressable market once the licenses have been given, is set to give a major push to the country’s mobile broadband services penetration and growth. According to T.R. Dua, Officiating Director General of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the 3G technology would not only provide innovative experience to the consumers, but would also act as a major catalyst for social and economic empowerment, increasing productivity and quality of life in India.

The success of this 3G auction, and the eventual deployment of 3G services, bode well for India. However, let me just focus on its effects on the country’s design and manufacturing capabilities. For over three decades, India’s technology industry has moved up the value chain—from being an IT services provider to an R&D hub for multinational companies, and now to being a center for high-end product design and manufacturing.

The 3G services deployment in the country will bring connectivity to those who have just acquired their first mobile phones. Broadband, meanwhile, will bring the power of global information to the tip of their hands. Considering these simple scenarios, there are a lot of avenues for Indian companies to focus on and provide solutions to—for instance, low-cost mobile phones and low-cost laptops or desktop PCs. It also extends to networking and telecommunications equipment—after all, “3G services for all” equate to more mobile base stations and telecom infrastructures.

One example of such company is Tejas Networks, one of the first indigenous telecom equipment manufacturers in India. Tejas has played a key role in helping design innovative products and network architectures that telecom operators around the world have used to build networks that offer the lowest cost telecom services. According to Arnob Roy, President – Engineering, for Tejas Networks, the company has been one of the new generation Indian companies developing innovative technology products for global markets. The company offers its unique solution—the Future Proof Transport Architecture (FPTA)—in its products, thereby future-proofing carrier networks as they evolve from the existing 2G networks to 3G/4G or LTE.

Roy added that this just the beginning of a long-term trend. Fueled by a strong domestic market and cutting-edge design skills in software, semiconductor and systems, India, he said, is poised to emerge as a global hub for leading-edge product design and manufacturing in the near future.