Latest news with #MuntazirAbbas
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Cost-effective tariff, free 5G, service quality to drive BSNL 4G customers: Pemmasani
Once BSNL's 4G current deployment is stabilised, the Cabinet approval for the fresh 1 lakh sites will be sought, and the state-run telco is mulling offering free 5G wireless access, and cost-effective tariffs to woo subscribers. In an exclusive interaction with ETTelecom's Muntazir Abbas, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State for Communications, talks on BSNL 4G network, BharatNet 3 program, Vodafone Idea's health, India's 6G readiness, and telecom carriers' anti-spam initiatives. Edited excerpts. You recently talked about BSNL, which is expected to add an additional 1 lakh 4G sites. By when is this likely to happen including the Cabinet nod? Firstly, we must perfect 1 lakh sites for which the order has been given. Once we get confidence that the technology is working the way we wanted, and competing with the global standards, and the subscriber base is increasing, then we will ask the Cabinet through our prime minister. That is our internal ministerial plan, but obviously, still a few more months to go for that. Will this be an open bid, or continued with homegrown partner Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)? This has not even been finalised, and it has not been approved by the Cabinet. Once approved, it will follow the standard bidding process. What expectations do you have from the BSNL once 4G is commercially available nationally? I think there are certain things that are highly favourable to BSNL. People have a lot of trust when it comes to security, and it being the lifeline or backbone during the disaster preparedness and at border areas and rural villages, it has earned that kind of trust and loyalty among the people. Once BSNL provides competitive 4G services, people will flock into it. In addition, the price can be competitive, and these days, people use a couple of SIMs. In my view, the concept of 'indigenous' appeared to be favourable. We can provide quality customer service and quality service, bundling different services with broadband. We are also thinking about coming up with free 5G wireless access. Some innovative approaches are being brought into the BSNL. So, with all of these, I am hoping these will increase BSNL's customer base. Share an update on the BharatNet 3 project. By when is it likely to be completed? This is such a huge project. We have done it in an extensively transparent process. Whoever has been allotted, would start working right away. We want to finish it within the next 2 years as much as possible. Is the ministry working on some sort of relief package for the telecom industry? The current health of the telecom sector is quite good. We are not even discussing anything at this point of time. The only issue is Vodafone Idea which we have already done quite a bit. ₹36,000 crores converting debt into equity itself is a large thing that we have done. But no more equity conversion. I mean we do not have any plan to convert dues into additional equity currently Don't you think it's high time for the government, being a majority stakeholder in Vodafone Idea, to take steps to get it out of the woods? Exactly. That is the reason we have converted debt into equity. The government cannot solve all the problems they have or are experiencing. So, this is not something we can do in a day. This requires the Prime Minister-headed Cabinet's nod. Multiple people must have to be involved. They (VIL) keep on approaching us, and it will continuously be examined. Did Vodafone Idea approach again for some relief? Every time, they will be putting a proposal. They come up with alternatives, too. We never shut the doors for anybody. There are always Cabinet ministers available. What will be your piece of advice to Vodafone Idea? They are in the public markets. They have to manage their own business. They are smart people and run multiple businesses. They know how to operate. For the last several years, Industry bodies have been demanding a cut in the Universal Service Obligation Fund or Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) levy making it effectively zero? There is no immediate need. The telecom sector is quite profitable. Telcos are expanding into 5G. We do not have any additional plans to give any incentives at this point of time. The 4G Saturation program is relatively slow in terms of implementation? No, it is not. One must understand, these are the places that even private players felt impossible to deploy towers. We are talking about forest areas, hilly areas where you do not have road access. These are the leftover places. So, execution itself is very difficult. We deployed close to 14,000 towers out of the 27,000. So, 50% has been completed already, and another 50% of the work is being fast-tracked as well. You have funded some institutions as part of the next generation (6G) technology innovation strategy. How is it contributing to technology development? We have given funding to around 111 institutions. They did file quite a few patents. We are continuously reviewing those projects. But we are confident we will be able to get at least 5 to 10% of the 6G patents by India. Once you have these patents, they will be inserted into the standards. The department has formed multiple forums for 6G development like you had in 5G? TCS is working on 6G actively. Our goal is to give as much funding as possible to all the people who are interested, especially the startups. The innovation is coming from IITs as they have a more structured process. How are you facilitating Make in India or Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in the telecom sector? Earlier, or until 10-11 years back, the situation was different. So, because of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, and the government's efforts, especially from the Prime Minister, we were able to bring in large manufacturers. We have got the ecosystem in the beginning, and now we have become the second largest phone exporter. Now, the goal is how to create indigenous components. If you look at our entire 4G and 5G, the government is mandating BSNL to develop indigenous technology and deploy. For a country as big as India, doing multiple things all in 10 years, I think what we have achieved is a remarkable success. Now you look at all the semiconductors and fab sectors, we have started to manufacture locally. Is the government considering any sort of direction to private telecom service providers to use indigenous technology, going forward? In general, mandating private enterprises is probably not the best thing. What we can do is incentivise them and empower them. So, if indigenous 4G works well and 5G is updated, obviously not only people in India, but other countries will also start buying. How are you ensuring the industry reduces spam and spoofing calls and messages? We are ensuring the security aspects of the telecom are being monitored, for the prevention of spam and fraud calls, and to eventually prevent financial frauds. We have taken that also very seriously and are reviewing it as a part of the security aspect. What is the frequency of reviewing anti-spam initiatives of telecom operators? I review monthly with our digital intelligence people. We are integrating Sancharsathi and developing it into multiple languages. Through Sancharsathi, we disconnected more than 4 crore illegal connections. We have also made a lot of changes and strict guidelines for the point-of-sale agents. So, like that, if you look at it, Airtel, you know, one year back, you were not getting spam call warnings. So, are you satisfied with the progress so far? Yes, I am quite satisfied with the progress.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Countries eyeing own data centres for security, economics in AI age: Cisco's Jeetu Patel
NEW DELHI: The San Jose-based Cisco Systems is optimistic about an AI-centric infrastructure portfolio to power next-generation data centres. In a bid to outdo rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), Juniper Networks, Broadcom, and Accenture, it has recently unveiled a range of products and unified its portfolio, representing a consequential shift backed by AI. The multinational said that it is reinventing infrastructure for the next wave of AI and aims to future-proof the workplace with AI-powered hyper-connectivity. In an interaction with ETTelecom's Muntazir Abbas, Cisco President & Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel talks on AI-centric data centre infrastructure, security portfolio, optics business, and telco partnerships, as well as collaborations with Nvidia and OpenAI. Edited excerpts: You have a bouquet of offerings, and how does artificial intelligence (AI) fit into it? We are moving from a world where people were asking questions intelligently to chatbots. The infrastructure requirements are going to change quite dramatically. If you think about AI, it's constrained by compute power and network bandwidth. People need to trust AI to be able to use it. So, safety and security are a big deal because you must ensure effective guardrails. We help with all of it. Our portfolio spans across compute, networking, security, optics and observability and data businesses. What are the data centre trends? There are massive build outs happening in data centres worldwide. These buildouts are happening at a scale proportion that is in the tens of gigawatts of capacity. Trillions of dollars will be spent by countries, and these data centers will also have a data sovereignty dimension to it. Countries will want to have their own data centers and availability for infrastructure, and it is going to have a direct correlation with national security and economic prosperity because of AI. So, every single invention that we are focused on and every single announcement we make will be towards helping our customers move to the journey of agentic AI. And on the data center side, we will be helping hyperscalers , neoclouds, service providers and enterprises. What is the portfolio you have for data centers? Our networking portfolio includes Nexus switches, and it starts with Silicon One. We make our own silicon, and then we make the systems on top of the silicon. We tie our Nexus dashboard and ACI infrastructure for fabric management together. We'll make it simpler to manage. We also have our optics business and optical systems. We provide service providers with ultra long-haul optics. Inter-cluster communication with Ethernet also used in Cisco. We do both front end and back end. What's the kind of opportunity that you are looking at, especially in the data center business? The opportunity is humongous. We had some partnerships that we announced with the Saudi government and the Humain Project. We are doing a similar effort with the UAE and Abu Dhabi. We are also working very closely with G42. We'll make sure that we build out a tremendous amount of data center capacity. We are partnering with Nvidia, AMD, and OpenAI. Then, I think that ideally it becomes a blueprint that we can use in multiple parts of the world as well. We provide some of these technologies for data center build outs anywhere in the world. I think the data center business is going to be one of the fastest-growing businesses for us. It'll also include security baked into the fabric. We have a partnership with Nvidia, for NIMS architecture, with the NEMO framework, our AI defense, which is our safety and security product, will be used to make the models safe and secure. Are you also partnering with telecom service providers for optical systems? We have recently launched Agile Services Networking, which is a kind of interoperable framework. We have also announced a few Cisco 8000 series routers over there as an upgrade. We have got ultra-long-haul optics so that we can cover data center interconnects up to 3000 kilometers. We have mid-range optics, long-haul optics, ultra-long-haul optics. We've got the ability to have assurance for service providers with ThousandEyes. We are doing a lot with telco service providers. Any update on working with Jio, the largest telecom carrier in India? The combination of our technology and theirs, is coming together and that is going as per the plan. Do you have a similar partnership with Bharti Airtel? Yes. I feel there is a tremendous amount of good execution consistency with Airtel. The teams are working well together. We will continue to keep progressing on that front. Earlier, you talked about AI as a shield to protect. What are your offerings as enterprises are evolving? We have an update across all our products. If you think about using AI for cyber defense, think about Hypershield as a product. We have announced a hybrid mesh firewall. It's baked with AI. We are also securing AI itself. Our AI Defense product will then make sure that it has the right level of capabilities to protect the application. Any update on the Indian manufacturing side? It is going as per the envisaged plan and is progressing well.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India playing strategic role in early 6G discussions: GSMA's Vivek Badrinath
NEW DELHI: London-based GSMA said that high spectrum prices could slow down network investment by telecom carriers, and said that industry's current focus remains on realising the full potential of 5G and 5GA. In an interaction with ETTelecom's Muntazir Abbas, GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath, talks on GSMA Open Gateway, spectrum pricing, 5G expansion, 5G-Advanced, Artificial Intelligence (AI), next generation (6G) technology, and non-terrestrial services. Edited excerpts. What are the top 2-3 immediate priority areas for GSMA currently? One of my immediate priorities is addressing the usage gap - nearly 3 billion people live within mobile broadband coverage but remain unconnected. Tackling it requires a mix of affordable devices, relevant content, digital skills, and enabling regulation. We are also scaling industry-wide initiatives like GSMA Open Gateway, which makes it easier for developers to innovate by opening up operator networks through standardised APIs. For example, Reliance Jio is using GSMA Open Gateway to spot and prevent fraud through the SIM Swap API. And as AI brings exciting opportunities, we're focused on ensuring networks are ready to support it; that we democratise access to AI tools across the industry; and that the technology serves the mobile ecosystem to best effect. We do this through initiatives like GSMA Open-Telco LLM Benchmarks, which evaluates AI models to ensure that they are optimised for accuracy, efficiency and safety in telecom use cases. GSMA believes that spectrum pricing worldwide should come down. But, governments follow a regulatory process and it may impact their revenues. Your comments? We fully recognise that spectrum is a valuable natural resource and that governments must weigh fiscal priorities. However, there's clear evidence that high spectrum prices can slow network investment and impact coverage - especially in rural and low-income areas. Our latest GSMA Global Spectrum Pricing Report shows that global cumulative spectrum costs now account for 7% of operator revenues - a 63% increase over the past ten years. That kind of burden has long-term consequences for connectivity and digital inclusion. Getting pricing and licensing conditions right isn't just about industry sustainability; it's about enabling innovation, economic growth, and better services for consumers. We advocate for policies that take the broader view - where well-designed spectrum awards more value for societies than short-term revenue maximisation. What are the new frequency bands you suggest for 5G expansion in Asia, and particularly in India? The success of 5G - and especially 5G-Advanced - depends on access to a balanced mix of low-, mid-, and high-band spectrum. In Asia, and in India particularly, the upper 6 GHz band offers strong potential. It strikes the right balance between coverage and capacity and has been identified at WRC-23 as a key candidate band for IMT in many parts of the world. The mmWave 26 GHz band is also essential - especially for ultra-high throughput use cases in dense urban and industrial settings. Making these bands available under investment-friendly conditions will be key to unlocking the full economic and societal benefits of 5G. Lately, mobile carriers are embracing AI at edge. What according to GSMA are the real benefits that AI can drive for end users? AI is becoming integral to the mobile experience - and edge deployment brings it closer to users, enabling faster, smarter, and more personalised services. For consumers, this means better performance and new applications in areas like health, transport, and education. For operators, it's about building more efficient, intelligent networks. As an industry, we must ensure this next wave of AI innovation is secure, interoperable, and developed responsibly. That's where GSMA plays a key role - by fostering cross-industry collaboration, open standards, and policy frameworks that support both innovation and trust. A recent example is the GSMA Responsible AI Roadmap, which outlines actionable steps to support the ethical and inclusive deployment of AI across the mobile ecosystem. There has been a fair share debate from OTT players. What according to you can be the best approach for the telecom regulator in India, and those globally? We believe in a balanced and collaborative approach. OTT players and mobile operators both benefit from - and contribute to - the digital ecosystem. There are growing concerns around the sustainability of network investment. Regulators should ensure a level playing field that encourages ongoing infrastructure development, while fostering innovation and consumer choice. Transparent, future-ready frameworks are essential and that includes considering fair contribution models and shared responsibility for network resilience. What are the key challenges and benefits for 5G-Advanced. By when do you expect it to pick up? The primary challenge in delivering 5G-Advanced (5GA) are the upgrades needed to infrastructure, but it represents a significant evolution of 5G. 5GA introduces enhanced capabilities such as improved uplink performance, AI-native networks and support for advanced use cases like industrial automation and immersive services. These advancements will enable smarter, more adaptive networks, delivering enhanced user experiences and opening new opportunities across various sectors. There are already early commercial implementations, but GSMA anticipates broader adoption in the latter half of the decade. This timeline aligns with the finalisation of 3GPP Release 18 and the maturation of the supporting ecosystem. By addressing these challenges collaboratively, the industry can unlock the full potential of 5GA, driving innovation and delivering substantial benefits to consumers and enterprises alike. How do you see convergence between terrestrial 6G and space broadband services? What are the collaboration opportunities between the two? Our current focus remains on realising the full potential of 5G and 5GA. Part of that is working to support the convergence of existing terrestrial networks with non-terrestrial network technologies to deliver connectivity in under-served areas, for mobile users and for industrial applications such as IoT. How do you see the role of India in 6G technology as the standardization process moves toward maturity. How many 6G patents have been filed so far globally and what is the share of Asian countries including India? India is playing an increasingly active and strategic role in early 6G discussions - particularly through initiatives like the Bharat 6G Alliance and its engagement with international standard-setting bodies. These contributions are vital to ensuring that the next generation of mobile technology reflects global diversity and supports broader development goals. At the GSMA, our focus remains on ensuring that the evolution of mobile communications is inclusive, collaborative, and informed by the successes and lessons of previous generations. While various organisations monitor patent activity, our priority is to support global coordination that leads to interoperable, secure, and future-ready networks. In a few countries including the US, spectrum in the 7.125 – 8.400 GHz band is identified as 6G-led future connectivity. Your views on governments readiness across geographies? We are still in the early stages of defining what 6G will be, and commercial deployments are many years away. At this point, the most important priority is to ensure that governments and regulators remain engaged in international coordination to avoid fragmentation. Some countries have started exploring future spectrum needs, but overall readiness varies. What's clear is that the lessons from 5G should guide us: early planning, global harmonisation, and investment-friendly policies will be key to delivering the next generation of mobile technology effectively. For now, the focus should remain on fully realising the potential of 5G and 5G-Advanced, which are already transforming connectivity and services across the world. Last year, ITU formed a subsea cable protection group on the backdrop of rising threats out of geopolitical tensions. What are GSMA efforts in this direction? Subsea cables are fundamental to global digital infrastructure, including mobile networks, and their protection is increasingly important as geopolitical and environmental risks grow. We strongly support international collaboration to safeguard all layers of connectivity infrastructure. Our focus is on promoting resilient, secure mobile networks and working with governments, operators, and international bodies to ensure that policies reflect the need for long-term infrastructure integrity. The more connected our world becomes, the more essential it is to treat digital resilience as a shared global priority.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Quantum computing poses security threat, may break cryptographic algorithms: Palo Alto Networks
OpenRAN technology poses security pain points due to its disaggregated and open architecture, but risks can be efficiently mitigated by implementing enterprise-grade security measures, said Swapna Bapat, Vice President & Managing Director, India and SAARC, Palo Alto Networks. In an interaction with ETTelecom's Muntazir Abbas, Bapat talks about AI technology breakthroughts, evolving data privacy regulations, quantum computing vulnerabilities and OpenRAN technology. Edited excerpts. What are the cyber threats you foresee in 2025? Coming into 2025, cyber attacks will be rising at high speed, powered by AI technology breakthroughs and quantum computing advancements, leading to increased regulatory attention. The top threats predicted for the year include: Deepfake attacks going mainstream, quantum threats, and supply chain and product integrity. With these constantly changing threats, organizations will need to proactively adopt AI-defenses, use quantum-resilient security, and practice openness in leveraging AI in order to be one step ahead of the cyber threat game in 2025. With AI getting mainstream, do you think CIOs and CISOs need more caution? As AI goes mainstream, CIOs and CISOs have to tread the thin line between innovation and security. While AI adoption drives digital transformation, enhances efficiency and customer experience, it also brings new threats that require a more risk-aware and strategic approach. Additionally, as automation with AI becomes increasingly embedded in business processes, CIOs must ensure that compliance with evolving data privacy regulations and AI-driven decision-making risks are mitigated. AI also introduces new cyber threats in the guise of deepfake-facilitated fraud and AI-enabled attacks, so organizations must become more resilient. Your views on using an AI shield as a security layer? How effectively it can thwart advanced threats? AI security comprises applications, policies, and technology to protect AI from unauthorised access and attacks. AI security is a multidisciplinary field and requires collaboration among experts in machine learning, cybersecurity , software engineering, ethics, and various application domains. The adoption of AI has drastically transformed the security landscape, driving a surge in the sophistication and frequency of attacks. What are quantum security threats? How is Palo Alto Networks bringing in innovation here? The incredible processing power and speed of quantum computers significantly threaten traditional encryption methods. Quantum computing's sheer force can compromise public key infrastructure (PKI) and uncover significant weaknesses in current security systems. Quantum computing poses a threat to cybersecurity through its potential to break the cryptographic algorithms that currently protect sensitive data, communications, and digital transactions. Quantum Random Number Generator by Palo Alto Networks helps organizations get ready for future quantum security threats. Share key findings of IBM- IBV-Palo Alto recent study. In the study, 'Capturing the cybersecurity dividend: How security platforms generate business value,' more than half (52%) of surveyed executives note fragmentation of security solutions is limiting their ability to deal with cyber threats, but 75% of organizations that have embraced security platformisation agree that better integration across security, hybrid cloud, AI, and other technology platforms is crucial. 60% of Indian executives (80% globally) agree they face pressure to reduce the cost of security, and globally, 41% say security fragmentation has driven up procurement costs. Why is OpenRAN technology challenging from a security standpoint? OpenRAN raises security concerns by granting third-party applications access to certain interfaces, which exposes network information flows. With multiple network functions virtualized on shared hardware, weak security controls may create vulnerability, potentially impacting other network functions due to risks introduced by new RAN components. OpenRAN technology presents security challenges due to its disaggregated and open architecture, which introduces more interfaces and potential attack vectors. However, these risks can be efficiently mitigated by implementing enterprise-grade security measures. Comprehensive security covering all layers, interfaces, attack vectors, and software life cycle stages, along with slice security ensures that 5G networks remain protected, regardless of whether they are built on traditional or Open RAN architecture. These security practices can defend organizations against malware, botnets and others.
