“The launch of 5G is a gift from the telecom industry to 130 crore Indians. It’s the dawn of a new era.”

-Prime Minister Narendra Modi

There is a gigantic technological revolution going on in the world of telecom, and it is being spearheaded by India. As PM Modi rightly puts it, 5G—fifth generation mobile networks—is not just a gift from the telecom industry to 130 crore Indians, indeed it has ushered in the dawn of a new era. 5G will not only set the gold standard in telecom technology, newer, uncharted vistas will open up for India’s young population for growth and prosperity.

There is no doubt that India’s digital connectivity has been transmogrified in a manner unthinkable over the last eight years. In 2014, there were about 60 million broadband users, that figure has leapfrogged over thirteen times to about 800 million users in 2022. Also, while there were just two mobile manufacturing facilities in 2014, the number has soared hundred times to 200 such facilities today. India has also become in the interim the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world, and no doubt Made in India mobiles are reaching out to different corners of the globe. Rural connectivity has likewise catapulted, from 100 village panchayats with optical fiber connectivity, today there are 170,000 panchayats similarly connected. It implies that it’s not just the elites but those at the grassroots who are now receiving high-speed data and the internet. This has galvanized innovation at a scale not seen before in the country.

Given this background, it is only in order then that we approached Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology for an interview which we’ve featured as a cover story. Putting things in perspective, he says that “Sectors like education and healthcare will have an immensely positive impact. Until now, the applications and solutions were conceptualized and designed in isolation from the network technology. This will change going forward with 5G at core. There is so much energy and enthusiasm in our young talent around this, they are building solutions to harness its capabilities.” This is bound to enthuse the Indian diaspora with whom we’ve built up a great connection over the last 18 years.

Elsewhere in the magazine, there are several stories related to the Indian diaspora, business and international affairs for your consumption.

Hope you enjoy browsing through them. You can also navigate through our back issues on our website www.indiaempire.com

Sayantan Chakravarty

sayantanc@gmail.com