How fast, furious, and fictile?

Amidst a slew of controversies and projections, 5G also stares at a new pocket of applications that could shape its real inflection point. Is this pocket well-lined?

COVID renews focus on secure mobility management strategy

If work from anywhere, anytime, and any device is exposing your business to bigger security risk, it’s time to get the EMM and UEM strategy right

Getting Ready For A Digital Identity Era

The 5G rollout will enable world to harness mobile-based security and authentication in a big way, paving way for elimination of paper-based processes

For Digital India, Kick-Start 5G Rollout After Covid

The government should overcome revenue loss arguments and provide 100 MHz of 5G spectrum to all existing operators at no cost, with clear rollout conditions and targets

Scaling Up Network In Post-Covid World

A vendor-neutral hardware and software-defined, open-interface technology is what the industry needs to meet the growing demand for broadband in the lockdown times

“Meeting bombing is an end-user behaviour pattern”

COVID-19 crisis has turned out to be a game-changer for many companies. While some companies have seen their business model tumble, few others, including the collaboration and communication solution and service providers have seen their numbers swelling. The one that leads the pack is Zoom, whose number of average per day users grew from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million by April 2020. This, despite some major security gaps and concern about some Zoom calls being routed through data centers in China. In a video-call with Shubhendu Parth, Zoom Video Communications India head Sameer Rajeev talks about the security issues, its 90-day plans to plug these, Keybase acquisition, and the Version 5.0.

Mobile-first today!

The pandemic has demonstrated the role of telecommunication in an economy and going ahead “mobile-first” will dominate organization’s growth strategy

THE WIRES UNTANGLE SOME MORE

Cloud-centric workloads, application-led working styles; how long could WAN stay away from the software-ization switch? Let’s see if all nails have come off or not

Riding a tension-free, resilient, flexible network

For the joint-venture insurance company, establishing centralized and secure connectivity for branches was a challenge. The solution it adopted was software-defined wide area network

Extending security infrastructure to work-from-home

Existing security tools may serve well to protect the remote-working environment, but they need to be configured to deal with the new realities and threats. Read to find out how

Time for ‘Make in India' to go stronger

The lockdown is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity to strengthen mobile phone manufacturing and making the country a global supply chain hub for electronics

Building democratized networks

The lockdown has led to a surge in data usage. Here is what TSPs can do to improve their legacy networks so that it can better cope up with the ever-increasing demand

Enabling Remote-Working During Covid-19 Times

Zoom, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Webex are most used collaboration and conferencing tools during lockdown in India

“Hughes as an entity is everybody's friend”

Satellite is an important layer in the enterprise networks across all sectors—from retail to petroleum to banking and military. With the explosive growth in cloud and rich-media applications deployed at branches, distributed enterprises are seeking next-generation WAN architectures that can deliver non-stop application availability, cutting-edge security environment and higher performance. Leveraging over 20 years of its experience in providing business solutions, Hughes Communications India (HCIL) is rapidly building on its enterprise offerings to provide Managed Network Services to Indian and global customers. The company’s Sr. Vice President for Enterprise Shivaji Chatterjee in an interaction with Anusha Ashwin talks about the satellite broadband industry and how it is driving the WAN services, and LTE MPLS technology.

Stressed, stretched, and supporting

Despite the financial tangle and the lockdown to deal with COVID-19, the telecom industry is leading from the front, keeping India connected and working

Industrial digitization is driving demand for private networks

Public safety, utilities, oil and gas, and railways are the top industry segments driving the need of private networks globally

IESA recommends ISRO-style commission for electronics sector

India needs to enhance its design capabilities and nurture it beyond the existing few cities. It also needs to incentivize the sector more to become a global hub

Efficient monitoring 5G networks

Integration of dynamic device components is a critical component of 5G network efficiency monitoring and optimization. Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts

Driving unlimited possibilities

With increased adoption of voice technology, search behaviour among users is likely to undergo a massive change. This will help organizations further individualize consumer experiences

Vodafone registered nearly one year of traffic growth in first week of lockdown

As India moves towards the second phase of nation-wide lockdown, the increased demand for the internet seems to have stabilized after the sudden surge—over 45%— during the first week beginning 25 March 2020, when the whole country started working from home and education went nearly 100% online. According to industry sources, the data traffic of the three private-sector players jumped from 250 petabytes per day in December 2019 to nearly 365 petabytes per day end of March 2020. This has kept the telcos and their technology heads on their toes and Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) CTO Vishant Vora is no exception. In an email interview with Shubhendu Parth, he shared details of the initiatives taken by VIL in ensuring uninterrupted voice and data services, and how its investments in cutting-edge technologies helped in meeting the surge in demand.

COLLABORATED WE STAND

While we had the technology to create a mesh of remote workers, COVID-19 pushed its adoption at an unprecedented scale. Here is how companies in India are dealing with it

Business continuity amidst work-from-home

Being FY closing, it was critical that all departments at Apollo Tyres were able to work together seamlessly. It was also important to ensure that the company continued to service its partners without disruption

Rx For Financial Health Of Telcos

Telecom companies in India have gone through a phase of consolidation and are still reeling under the financial stress triggered by the disruption in the market, low ARPU despite the recent tariff hike by the telcos, and last but not the least, the AGR payment crisis that is threatening to create a duopoly market in the country. The TLF panel discussion deliberated on what ails the industry, the available financial options and how the government can support the industry to make it healthier. The key participants in the discussion moderated by Voice&Data Consulting Editor Shubhendu Parth included Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and Bharti Infratel Executive Chairman Akhil Gupta, Broadband India Forum President TV Ramachandran, and COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews. Excerpts:

“Telecom data network is the superhighway of all future services”

It has been a long 40-year journey for him—from leading the HR function at DCM Shriram Group in 1979, to steering India’s wireless telecom industry as the Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises Limited, and then his five-year stint as executive chairman of SB Energy, a joint venture between Softbank, Bharti and Foxconn. The Voice&Data Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2019 and Softbank India’s Country Head Manoj kohli talks with Shubhendu Parth about the challenges and opportunities of the telecom sector in India. Excerpts:

“Technology is our middle name”

As a passionate engineer, he considers himself fortunate to be leading a technology company at a time when digital advancement is transforming everyday lives. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and University of California, Berkeley, he completed his PhD in Materials Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA before joining Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) in 1995. The winner of Voice&Data Pathbreaker of the Year Award for 2019 and STL CEO Dr. Anand Agarwal shares his views with As a passionate engineer, he considers himself fortunate to be leading a technology company at a time when digital advancement is transforming everyday lives. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and University of California, Berkeley, he completed his PhD in Materials Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA before joining Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) in 1995. The winner of Voice&Data Pathbreaker of the Year Award for 2019 and STL CEO Dr. Anand Agarwal shares his views with Shubhendu Parth on the company’s journey, new business opportunities and Make in India. Excerpts: on the company’s journey, new business opportunities and Make in India. Excerpts:

“A CDO is often asked to enhance digital revenue of the company”

Tata Communications Chief Digital Officer C R Srinivasan is responsible for the overall digital and security strategy and execution for the company. As technologist and a business leader, he also heads the company’s global business for cloud and security, enabling digital transformation initiatives for customers. He is also responsible for creating industry standards in cloud computing solutions for customers coupled with solidifying the internal digital processes and delivering technical solutions to enhance business growth and productivity. In an interaction with Thomas George, he talked about emerging technology trends, different aspects of digital transformation, and the emerging role of a CDO. Excerpts from the interview:

“5G will create more opportunities for the operators”

The 1978-batch IAS officer with a master’s degree in mathematics from IIT-Kanpur and another in computer science from the University of California brings an amazing mix of technology and bureaucracy that allowed him to make a difference at every stage of his civil services—as a District Collector in Begusarai, Purnea, and Dhanbad or as UIDAI Director General, Jharkhand Chief Secretary and IT, and Communications Secretary. The Voice&Data Telecom Person of the Year for 2019 and TRAI Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma touches upon his role as a regulator, the changing business model of telecom service providers (TSPs) and opportunities that the 5G is likely to bring in. Excerpts from an interview with Shubhendu Parth:

Unlocking manufacturing growth in India

The panel discussion on Unlocking Manufacturing Growth in India at the TLF 2020 was moderated by Infomo Global Pte Ltd Strategic Advisor & Group COO Sukanta Dey.

The game-changer for telecom

Delivering the industry keynote at the TLF 2020, on Service Orchestration and Close Loop Assurance in 5G, HPE CMS Solution Specialist for OSS/BSS and Orchestration Azad Singh said that the company can help with service orchestration and close loop assurance in 5G.

Leveraging digital era growth

There was a panel discussion on Leveraging Digital Era Growth at the TLF India 2020.