Hello everyone and welcome back to the Cognixia podcast!
Every week, we discuss something new and interesting from emerging digital technologies, hoping to inspire our listeners to learn something new and advance in their careers. Every week we also receive all your amazing feedback and suggestions that drive us to keep going, bringing you one more interesting episode after another. So, thank you to all our awesome listeners all over the world.
A crucial element of a lot of cutting-edge tech that is being developed these days is something we often tend to overlook unless there is something wrong with it – networks. You don’t notice your phone’s network unless you lose those bars, your call drops or maybe you run out of data, right? But everything from driverless cars to humanoid robots needs networks, networks that are super fast, reliable, and capable of handling humongous amounts of data.
5G is still rolling out in India, there are still large parts of India that are yet to get 5G coverage, and some networks have also not made the upgrade yet. But around the world, including in India, research is on for tech that would be suitable for the next spectrum. And, what is this next spectrum you ask? That’s 6G – the neat, cool, 100x faster upgrade to 5G.
6G is expected to start rolling out by 2030, which is only six years away. That’s not a lot. 6G, as we just mentioned, promises a 100 times faster speed and almost a near-zero lag in connection. By lag in connection, we mean network latency. This, as you can imagine, would be a world where AI-driven machines and entire smart cities would operate in perfect, smooth harmony.
But do we need 6G? Maybe right now we don’t. Well, for most days, even if our 5G works properly, we would be quite happy, wouldn’t we? However, in time, as tech evolves, as more people are enabled to jump onto the 5G bandwagon, 6G would become essential. And then, isn’t the tech world always after the next big thing? 6G could be that next big thing no country in the world would want to miss out on.
So, are we doing anything about this? Yes, we are. By we, we mean India. India has ambitious goals when it comes to 6G. We currently rank among the top 6 in filing 6G patents. And, there are targets for this too. The Indian government has set a bold target, the mandate is to secure 10% of global 6G patents in the next three years.
What do patents have to do with anything? Countless patents get filed every day, don’t they? And, patents can take years to be granted too, right?
Well, patents matter. Why is the pharmaceutical industry always chasing patents? Why are some pharmaceutical drugs available super cheap and some cost a fortune? Well, of the many reasons that make this happen, one important reason is, you guessed it right, patents. Patents in 6G are crucial because whoever holds the patent, holds the key to the future. The one with the patents can set global standards, charge licensing fees, and significantly influence how the tech is developed. So, when India sets ambitious patent targets, it is quite clear that the ultimate ambition, in this case, is to shape the future of infrastructure and drive the next wave of spectrums as well as associated tech.
A 2021 study by Nikkei and the Cyber Creative Institute found that China held 40% of 6G patents, the US held 35%, and India’s share here was just 1.5%. We are seriously lagging here.
India has also set an ambitious aim of contributing one-sixth of the global 6G standards by 2027. To achieve this target, the Bharat 6G Alliance has been formed by the Government of India. This Alliance is a network of multiple stakeholders who are involved in driving the research and development in the 6G space. The vision for this Alliance is to create a nine-year mission, going from 2022 to 2031 for funding the 6G in three distinct phases. The Alliance is also tasked with leading field trials and making global standard contributions in the coming few years.
Ok, so we can see that a lot is being done and a lot of targets have been set. But come, let’s face it, setting targets and doing research isn’t enough. The realities of a lab and the realities of the real world at large are two very different things, after all. So, the million Rupee question here is, how ready is India for 6G?
Well, not so much. And, do you know what is the biggest gap that is becoming a major bottleneck?
Skilled workforce, or the lack of it.
We can build the most amazing infrastructure, we can develop the world’s best technology, and we can have all our research ideas on point, but who makes all of this possible? Who implements and executes all the innovations? Who makes it a reality? Skilled workforce. And that, we seriously, shockingly, concerningly, lack in.
You can’t just flip a switch and say, from tomorrow we go from 5G to 6G, right? If only it were that simple!
Moving to a higher spectrum, to 6G, needs humongous investments in infrastructure and allied technologies. For instance, take this. Currently, India has 4.5 lakh Base Transceiver Stations, out of the total 29 lakh such Stations that exist in the country. These stations are what connect mobile devices to cellular networks, simply put. But for 6G, we need whole new setups – all the way from fiber optics to satellites, and then even the stations that handle these signals and frequencies.
We are also lacking on the committee’s front. To lead a revolution, there is a need to be on the top groups and committees who are driving the revolution. A Study by the Geneva Internet Platform found that as of 2021, China was a member of 732 such committees, while India seriously lagged with being a member of just 400 such committees. For a country that produces and exports the world’s top tech talent, that’s not done, is it?
Currently, the Indian government has allocated about INR 10,000 crores for research and development in 6G, spread over the next decade. But, do you know how much Japan and China have allocated for this? INR 38,000 crores. Huawei in China began working on 6G in 2019 and in 2021, their estimated spending on 6G research was to the tune of $22 billion. So, we need to push harder in research and development. You need more than just infrastructure to upgrade to 6G, you see.
Coming back to the issue of the skills gap, to operate a 6G network effectively and efficiently, there is a need for highly skilled engineers, AI specialists, telecom experts, and many more professionals. And, let’s face it, our education system just can’t keep up with this. We still don’t have enough skilled professionals to handle 5G, 6G is not even in the picture yet. If we aim to achieve any of our 6G targets, we would need to take our upskilling game up a few notches. Many notches, if we are honest.
And, another important and often overlooked consideration is sustainability. A ton of fuel goes into powering tech research. A lot of batteries are needed too. Overall, the industry has an enormous carbon footprint and if you remember, we have a goal to be carbon neutral by 2070. So, balancing the sustainability goals with the demands of 6G research and implementation will be another challenge.
Not to forget, as technology evolves, so do cyberattacks. Faster networks enable more sophisticated, intricate cyber-attacks – data breaches, malware, ransomware, the works. We also need to push harder on the cybersecurity front and crack down stronger on cybercriminals.
So, what do we make of this scene and our readiness for 6G?
Well, India’s progress is promising. But if we want to get out of the sidelines and be on the center stage, a lot more effort is required on multiple fronts. Our dreams may not exactly be set for failure, there is hope, but there is a very, very long way to go and a huge lot to be done. 6G is crucial for our future. How the revolution shapes out, only time will tell.
Interesting time to be alive, isn’t it?
Well, with that, we come to the end of this week’s episode of the Cognixia podcast. We will be back again next week, with another interesting and exciting new episode.
Until then, happy learning!
