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Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal
Potential satellite communication providers must be subject to the same rules as traditional telecom companies, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, on Tuesday.
The government must have a “holistic” artificial intelligence (AI) strategy that makes India self-sufficient in the technology, said Akash M Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm. The two men were speaking at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi.
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They spoke before a gathering that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and national and global representatives of the telecom sector.
Reliance Jio, the market leader in Indian telecom, would want the government to have an AI strategy focused on self sufficiency. “AI is absolutely critical for realising our dreams of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Therefore, India under your [Modi’s] leadership should urgently embrace AI with a holistic strategy driven by maximum Atmanirbhar efforts,” said Ambani. Jio is committed to offering powerful AI models and services to Indians at affordable prices.
“Towards this end we are laying the grounds for a national AI infrastructure,” said Ambani.
Existing jobs will evolve as the use of AI expands and exciting opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship “will be created in a rapid manner just like during the adoption of the computer and the internet”, he said.
Ambani urged the government to expedite the draft of a 2020 policy on data centres. “Indian data should remain in India data centres. Therefore, Indian companies ready to set up AI and machine learning data centres, should get all necessary incentives including incentives for power consumption.”
Satcom debate
Mittal said his company wants the government to ensure that all potential satellite communication providers abide with the telecom operator framework.
Telecom companies have connected the world and fast-growing satellite communication services can co-exist with terrestrial networks, he said. Indian telecom companies will take satellite services to the remotest part of the country, he said.
Satellite companies aiming to come to urban areas for “elite, retail customers” must take a telecom licence just like everybody else. Mittal’s comments seem to be aimed at foreign companies like Starlink and Project Kuiper whose applications to enter the Indian market are being vetted by the government.
“Be it bound with the same conditions, they need to buy the spectrum just like the telecom companies. They need to pay the licence fees as telecom companies do, and also secure their networks like telecom companies do. This is a simple solution that can be adopted on a global scale and India can show the way,” he said.
The government is processing applications for satellite communication services and has granted licences to Bharti group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satellite arm, Jio Space. Applications by foreign entities face hurdles over technicalities and security concerns.
Starlink is the satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, the American spacecraft manufacturer owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Project Kuiper, a subsidiary of Amazon, was established in 2019 to deploy a satellite internet constellation to provide low-latency broadband connectivity.
First Published: Oct 15 2024 | 12:41 PM IST
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