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The Business of Communications
AUdItINg IN thE AgE Of ARtIfIcIAL INtELLIgENcE
I26
EasE of Doing BusinEss Policy
inDustry MEMBErs Want Major anD urgEnt actions to sPEED uP
nEtWork DEPloyMEnt
Creating Our Own Roadmap Amid Rapidly Transforming
International Response to Ease of Doing Business
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26 Auditing in the age of Artificial Intelligence
Creating Our Own Roadmap Amid Rapidly Transforming International Response to Ease
of Doing Business
EasE of Doing BusinEss Policy
inDustry MEMBErs Want Major anD urgEnt actions
to sPEED uP nEtWork
DEPloyMEnt
Voicemail ... 06
Editorial ... 07
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Perspective ... 74
RegulaRs
VSAt 28 “Our mission is to focus on high complexity high-added value networks. We are looking at completely redefining and revolutionizing some of the system architectures and applications.”
—Vagan Shakhgildian
President and CEO,UHP Networks IncdAtA ANALytIcS
32
“Analytics will help drive the competitive edge in the Indian telecom industry”—Neeraj Vyas
Head of Digital Business Solutions, Ericsson40
“4G or 5G, Tanla has a robust infrastructure to handle any spectrum or volume”—Sriram Vinjamuri
COO, Tanla5g 34
“Fiber densification is crucial to prepare the networks for 5G”—Ryan Perera
Country Manager, Ciena36
The essentials of 5G discussed with Juniper’s Director Sriram TV—Sriram T. V
. Director of Consulting & Business Development, Juniper Networks for India and SAARCARtIfIcIAL INtELLIgENcE
42
“AI is helping drive not just insights, but also real-time recommendations across the organization”—Suman Reddy Eadunuri
Managing Director, Pegasystems IndINtERNEt tELEPhONy
56
“Internet telephony has not been a huge success due to unfamiliarity with the technology among Indians. Many people in India may not be as comfortablecalling over the internet as they are by using the services of a telco”
—Lalit Upadhyay
Founder, Polash VenturesNdcP
08 National Digital Communications Policy 2018 will catapult India on the path of global knowledge revolution
SMARt cIty
10 Creating Shared Infrastructure for Smart Cities-Gurgaon
MOBILE VIdEO
45 The Mobile Video Industry Council
tELEcOM
46 Reskilling: The Growth Mantra For Telecom Industry
VIRtUALIzAtION
48 Enabling the Telco Transformation for the 5G World
5g
50 An Epochal Opportunity for India 60 The North Pole Star in a Constellation
of Technologies
BROAdBANd
52 Home Broadband and Its Relevance to Digital India
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Benefits of
hyper-converged Infrastructure
A fundamental shift is taking place in enterprise tech infrastructure as they recognize the benefits of Hyper-converged Infrastructure (HCI). According to Research & Markets, it says that hyper-converged infrastructure can be defined as a software system architecture which brings together multiple data center services to amplify computing, networking and storage to improve performance efficiency and reduce costs. It further stated that globally, rising usage of virtualization, increasing need of data protection and disaster recovery, low capex and total cost of ownership are the prime growth drivers of hyper-converged infrastructure market.
In addition, development of technologies to create high value hyper-converged infrastructure and increase in adoption of hyper-converged infrastructure in emerging economies such as China, India and others, is expected to create new opportunities for hyper-converged infrastructure market. However, higher cost of the research and development, demerits of bundled solutions are the key restraints for hyper-converged infrastructure market.
Meanwhile IDC defines converged systems as pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element/systems management software. Specific to management software, IDC includes embedded or integrated management and control software optimized for the auto discovery, provisioning and pooling of physical and virtual compute, storage and networking resources shipped as part of the core, standard integrated system.
Experts say that, HCI offers the combination of cloud like features – such as automation and self-provisioning in a single, rack-mounted appliance. A IDG research study said that most IT decision were interested in adopting HCI to improve IT agility and enable digital transformation.
Top drivers also include:
• Automating infrastructure provisioning and management
• Maximizing IT security
• Increasing pressure to transition to a cloud-compute model of IT service delivery
Last year Gartner observed that A Hyper Converged Integrated Systems (HCIS) is a subset of the integrated systems market and will be a key growth engine for this market. These systems tend to cost less than traditional integrated systems, and have a good mix of established and emerging vendors. HCIS is poised for growth because of its low initial acquisition cost compared with traditional integrated systems due to lower storage area network (SAN) costs and features, such as faster time to provision and deploy, better overall total cost of ownership, and ease of maintenance/upgrades.
The adoption of integrated systems in India is being driven by organizations looking to replace existing infrastructures and, as a result, evaluating their options in the market. Large enterprises have focused their efforts on building intelligent data centers that focus on a quick response to the requirements of the business.
Shrikanth G Associate Editor
National Digital Communications
Policy 2018 will catapult India on the path of global knowledge revolution
The NDCP 2018 comes at the time when the country is at the cusp of a digital revolution, welcoming an array of futuristic next-gen communication technologies, where machines will rule the roost, reducing human interaction and intervention to the bare minimum.
The impact will be disruptive
T
he much-awaited National Digital Communications Pol- icy (NDCP) 2018 has been approved by the Union Cabi- net today. The policy aims at building and sustaining a sound digital infrastructure in the country. The three-pronged approach of “Connect-Propel-Secure” will have an inclusive, empowering and transformative impact on the nation. The document has made all the relevant stakeholders optimis- tic about the future. The policy aims to attract $100 billion in investments and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022.
N D C P 2 0 1 8 h a s ta ke n i n t o consideration, most of the suggestions given by and problems of the operators, and seeks to address such long pending concerns that have been adversely impacting the telecom industry. These include rationalisation of multiple taxes and levies, such as license fees, exceedingly high spectrum usage charges, revenue sharing, universal service obligation fund and GST, among other things. It must be noted that the Indian telecom service providers pay more than 30% of their revenues as taxes and levies, while most telcos worldwide pay around 10%. The approved policy document looks to rationalise this cost, taking into account that communications services bring with them significant economic progress of citizens. The telecom sector currently contributes 6 percent to the GDP. The NDCP2018 has set a target of 8% by 2022.
The telecom sector is reeling under a massive cumulative debt of INR 7.8 Lakh crores, while the overall revenue has fallen to under INR 2 lakh crores.
Further, the financial state of the sector has been rapidly deteriorating quarter on quarter. Incapacitating hyper-competition leading to significantly squeezed margins, mounting debt and dwindling revenues,
A CyberMedia Publication | voicendata.com | NOVEMBER 2018 | VOICE&DATA | 9
The impact can be seen in the number of mergers and consolidations that happened recently. A few telecom operators consolidated operations, while some exited the market altogether, filing for bankruptcy. Hence rationalisation of levies and taxes will go a long way in emancipating the sector, from its financial burdens.
The NDCP 2018 comes at the time when the country is at the cusp of a digital revolution, welcoming an array of futuristic next-gen communication technologies, where machines will rule the roost, reducing human interaction and intervention to the bare minimum. The impact will be disruptive. As the country readies itself for technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), machine to machine communications (M2M), internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, automation, robotics, augmented reality and virtual reality, India’s digital dream will cease to be a dream, and become a tangible reality. One of the major goals of the NDCP is to harness the power of emerging digital technologies, to enable provision of future-ready products and services. The new technologies will play decisive roles in improving efficiencies, providing sustainable solutions, bettering revenue streams and optimising costs.
It is these technological game-changers that place the ICT industry at the forefront of nationwide digitisation.
The policy aims to make access to digital communication services affordable and sustainable and towards this end, it has laid down a comprehensive roadmap pivoted on increasing high-speed broadband penetration by leveraging modern technologies such as 5G and
a digital economy. Furthermore, with the public launch of open data sets, it is vital that security of information, data and digital communications of organisations and individuals be of paramount importance.
The new policy has made it clear that the Government is finally cognisant of the importance of the Indian telecom sector and the role it can play for the country’s advancement, by connecting the next billion and empowering them with the necessary information they need to lead fulfilling lives. Telecom companies are, infact, the infrastructure providers for the digital economy. The implementation of this policy will fundamentally redefine the contours of how India connects and communicates digitally. Speaking of pushing India ahead, foreign investment has been highlighted as a major aspect of the policy. The NDCP aims to catalyse investments for the digital sector through various avenues such as ensuring a holistic and harmonised approach for harnessing emerging tech as well as providing an impetus to research and development, start-ups and local manufacturing.
The year 2022 will be a watershed year, if all the NDCP 2018’s targets are achieved. The proposed Digital Policy is a brilliant initiative on part of the Government to formally focus on not only the telecom sector but also include digitization of the country within its ambit. The priority now is to implement the policy in its true letter and spirit and the industry stakeholders are happy that DoT is already looking into the same.
Rajan S Mathews (The author is Director General, COAI) optical fibres. Under its ‘Broadband for
all’ initiative, it aims to make sure that every citizen has access to broadband running at 50Mbps or more, while all key development institutes should be receiving at least 100Mpbs of speed by 2022. The policy has projected that, by 2022, 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps) connectivity shall be provided at the gram panchayat level. The NDCP also seeks to ensure connectivity in all areas that are currently uncovered through channelizing the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), thereby maximising citizen- centric connectivity as well as last- mile inclusivity. To build a connected and shared digital network, absolute inclusivity is a necessary first step.
The policy document has incorporated provisions, encouraging the adoption of “Optimal Pricing of Spectrum” to guarantee sustainable and reasonably priced access to digital communications.
The new telecom policy recognises spectrum as a natural resource and as a corollary, ensures its sufficient availability, efficient usage and putting together a fair and transparent allocation method for service providers. The final policy gives looks to guide the evolution of the telecom industry in the country.
Considering the Government thrust towards a digitally empowered nation, the new policy has also focussed on creating an exhaustive roadmap for data privacy and protection so that all digital communications are safe and private, and autonomously controlled by citizens. A key aspect of this policy would be to safeguarding India against the evolving threats of cyber-attacks that arise with the transition towards
The telecom sector currently contributes 6 percent to the GDP. The NDCP2018 has set a
target of 8% by 2022
Creating Shared Infrastructure for Smart Cities-Gurgaon
The communication network is the backbone of any ICT infrastructure and more so for the smart city. The data generated by large number of CCTVs, devices, sensors etc. need to assimilate at data centre for processing and visualization in command and control reliably
W
ith the regular migration towards cities in search of better opportunities, the available city infrastruc- ture like roads, water, sewerage, drain- age & electricity etc. is getting stressed day by day. This calls for augmentation of physical infrastructure and optimuminfrastructure is done manually based on experience & local eco-system. This calls for frequent oral command/ feedback chain leading to stress & loss of produc- tive time of officials & inefficiency. With the growth in spread & habitation of city, the conventional system becomes unmanageable & even unreliable.
from a centralized location deploying Information & communication Technology (ICT) tools. This is expected to enhance the performance and quality of urban services such as energy, connectivity, transportation, utilities, governance and others. A smart city is a framework of ‘Intelligent Network’ of connected
A CyberMedia Publication | voicendata.com | NOVEMBER 2018 | VOICE&DATA | 11
Data centre/ cloud. In essence, ICCC (Integrated Command Control Centre) receive and manage data in real-time to help enterprises and residents make better decisions that shall improve the quality of life. These decisions can lead to the improvement of traffic congestion, energy disruption, Internet connectivity and other services while cutting costs.
Govt. of India has selected 100 cities to be developed as Smart Cities, but Gurugram does not figure in it. However, Gurugram Smart City project has been taken up by Haryana Govt. and has been planned & being implemented with structured approach across city for all services one by one. To aspire for quality live ability parameters, the following problem areas are to be identified&
resolved -
1. Adequate water supply 2. Sanitation – Solid waste
management
3. IT connectivity & digitalization 4. Affordable housing
5. Safety & security of citizens 6. Assured Electricity supply 7. Efficient public transport 8. e-Governance
9. Sustainable environment 10. Health & education
To enable above objectives, the Smart city architecture shall have following five essential components.
i) Integrated command & control centre (ICCC)
ii) Data Centre/ Cloud & IP Security iii) e-Governance & Citizen help desk iv) Communication Network
Infrastructure.
v) Smart infrastructure of utilities The ICCC, Data Centre & e-Governance are the green field developments and are to be built as common ICT infrastructure at centralised location for administrative convenience. This facility shall be managed by officials from Police, utilities, infrastructure and citizen services under expert guidance of ICCC core team.
ICCC shall follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for resolution of day to day problems in city.
The communication network is the
This approach of integrated OFC infrastructure in partnership with industry has seen envisaged in Gurugram, wherein the interested agencies have been empanelled through EOI process.
The infrastructure provider (IP/TSP) lays 4 ducts, out of which he can use, 2 nos.
as desired. One duct with OFC cable is made available to civic administration for smart city applications free of cost and one duct is spare under control of civic administration and can be released for market neutralization on revenue share basis if monopolistic tendencies surface.
Reciprocally for cost neutralization, the Infrastructure Provider (IP) does not pay for ROW & cable pit space etc. Now the work/ O&M environment is like work being done for civic Administration, the Infrastructure Provider gets a smooth sail & all local issues resolved by civic bodies.
CCTV, Traffic management, parking, street lighting, Wi-Fi solutions, etc. are being provided to enhance safety &
security. Smart management of water, Sewerage, Solid waste, Electricity supply shall improve the availability of these services. All Govt. offices & services departments/ centres shall be connected with Govt. network. Gurugram city is also mapped on GIS, which shall help integration of all services on physical platform. e-Governance & citizen help desk shall bring all civic & Govt.
services to the doorsteps of citizens with online access. This shall also enable participation of citizens in Governance of city through feedback and suggestions mechanism.
Availability of shared OFC infrastructure shall facilitate unhindered& quick launch of advance telecom services like 5G, which requires connected towers, Fiber to offices, industry, institutions, businesses
& home for broadband. This shall also obviate the frequent encroachment to civic infrastructure& avoid inconvenience to citizens.
R.K. Bahuguna (The author is Former President, Railtel Corporation of India Ltd.) backbone of any ICT infrastructure and
more so for the smart city. The data is generated at Cross roads, notorious/
Crime prone locations, market streets, entry-exit points, control/ monitoring points in water distribution system at waysides, Sewage Treatment Plants, waste collection/ treatment, street lights, power supply distribution locations, bus stops, Govt. offices, service buildings, public Wi-Fi & many other locations generally not well covered by reliable commercial telecom network. The data generated by large no of CCTVs, Devices, sensors etc. needs to assimilate at data centre for processing & visualization in command and control centre reliably. This calls for building up a dedicated/ captive citywide telecom network, preferably managed by City administration.
The core infrastructure of Roads, water, sewerage, drainage &electricity etc. being essential services are governed provided and managed by Govt./ Utilities.
The right of way (RoW) for these is generally considered leave facility and nominal/ nil charges are levied by civic authorities. On the other hand Telecom/ OFC cables are considered as commercial setup and good licence fee is taken. Having own OFC infrastructure is strategic strength of Telco’s in the highly competitive telecom market &
therefore reluctance to share the OFC in city access network. Civic authorities saw it as revenue opportunity, once Telco’s approached them for RoW approval.
Against one/two other utility ducts along ROW, there are likely to be multiple telecom ducts and growing, constraining the ROW space. This results in frequent infringement in RoW space, & damage to existing assets/
utilities. Therefore, management of ROW becomes a challenge & difficulty is faced in augmentation/ expansionof other utilities in future. If OFC is also treated like a core infrastructure & made available as a service at Government administered/
comparative pricing, the multiplicity of OFC infrastructure can be avoided.
Industry & Govt. need to work together for a workable model.
Ease of Doing Business Policy:
Industry Members Want Major and Urgent Actions to Speed Up Network Deployment
The roundtable took place against a backdrop of a rapidly transforming
international response to ease of doing business. Make in India and
Digital India programs mean that priorities must shift and procedures
must change as businesses today require a roadmap for easy functioning
with increasing urgency
A CyberMedia Publication | voicendata.com | NOVEMBER 2018 | VOICE&DATA | 13
T
his event represented an opportunity for telecom companies, policymakers, and other key stakeholders to share information, experience, coordinate efforts, and add strategies to make Ease of Doing Business Policy a reality. As the “Voice”of the meeting, this report will be shared with the Government of India in the hope that the recommendations from this forum can help the broader development of telecom sector.
The roundtable took place against a backdrop of a rapidly transforming international response to ease of doing business. The development of Make in India and Digital India programs have meant that priorities have shifted and procedures changed as businesses today require a roadmap for easy functioning with increasing urgency.
However, these developments will only translate into a better deal for the communities if we can build on past experience and knowledge.
The roundtable brought policy makers, business and technology decision makers, and other key stakeholders from across industries to review Ease of Doing Business Policy in India and expand capacity to address future challenges in its deployment.
It also provided a valuable networking opportunity and set the stage for further cooperation amongst the participants.
Ease of Doing Business Policy for Network Deployment roundtable was moderated by Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Cybermedia. It continued with presentations and briefings on topics of interest to the participants. The
Report will be shared with the Government of India so that the recommendations from this forum can help the
broader development of telecom sector
A CyberMedia Publication | voicendata.com | NOVEMBER 2018 | VOICE&DATA | 15
Deployment.
• Bring suggestions made by the participants to the government’s notice to push for its effective implementation.
INauguRal PleNaRY
Pradeep Gupta opened the Roundtable by welcoming the distinguished senior government representatives and other participants from different fields. He identified the participants’ crosscutting areas of expertise and thanked them all for blessing the session with their
presence. The CMD, Cybermedia, maintains a strong commitment to ease of doing business policy for network deployment.
Mr. Gupta also expressed regret over Secretary, Telecom, Aruna Sundarajan and Secretary, DIPP, not being able to the roundtable due to a last-minute urgent meeting. A small video on Ease of Doing Business was played, which laid the context of the roundtable. Mr. Gupta also recalled previous roundtables conducted by Cybermedia.
roundtable discussion concluded with some valuable suggestions on ease of doing business for network deployment describing new and noteworthy initiatives.
Specific Objectives of the Roundtable were to:
• Identify key challenges/elements in Ease of Doing Business Policy for Network Deployment.
• Explore ideas and suggestions for effective implementation of Ease of Doing Business Policy for Network
Pradeep gupta, cMd, cybermedia
“We are among the top 100 countries in the ease of doing business rankings. In a short time
of 3 years, we have improved 42 ranks. I have been constantly telling to domestic and foreign
investor community that we in India are making sincere efforts to improve ease of doing
business. India jumped in ranking with the highest. India has been identified as one of the
top reforms. Congratulations to all who have worked for this. You
have made the nation proud.”
— Prime Minister Narendrea Modi
suggestions and the way forward
T.V. Ramachandrdan in his speech stated that ease of doing business in India has become an important topic, particularly for the country’s digital ambitions. He went on to say that there is an overlap or rather confusion between the policy and ease of doing business itself. According to him, as long as the policy is clear and effective, no entrepreneur is worried irrespective of the policy’s nature. Business cases can be tailored to suit every situation as long as the policy is consistent.
However, if there is flip-flop in it, then it becomes difficult to continue doing business. The first point he made for
ease of doing business was consistency in the policy.
Mr. Ramachandran highlighted the need for the fibre rollout, which is paramount for the new digital era that India is dreaming about. He further stated that the rollout of fibre is critical to backup the digital explosion that is currently taking place in the country. The president of Broadband India Forum also talked about underlying challenges in the fibre rollout. One of which is translocation of government efforts and policies to states for ease of doing business. Delay in granting government permissions from various bodies for the fibre rollout is another critical challenge that he highlighted during the discussion with
a real-life example of the year 97-98 in which networks were collapsing in India and leading companies were also exiting.
Delay in permissions was the key reason then why several operators did not get sustainable business.
The third point he made was of problems in cash flow in managing operations, which are increasing with each passing day due to huge investment requirements in the wake of 5G and digital transformation.
Three key points he made were:
• Consistency in policy.
• Challenges in fibre rollout
• Problems in cash flow in managing operations.
“In the year 1997-98, networks were collapsing
and people were exiting India including formidable powers such
as AT&T. It was mainly due to ease of rolling out network. Permissions
were not coming. We have a lesson to learn from there. That was solved by NTP-99 and we went on to do great
things.”
— T.V. Ramachandran,
President,
Broadband India Forum
Broadband rollout in Tier 3-4 cities
The youngest speaker on the panel, Siddharth Vij, Founder, ShoeKonnect, talked about the network issues that his client face in Tier 2 and 3 cities. He receives texts from his clients saying that they can’t use the company’s app
because of poor network in the city. The clients often ask their kin in other cities to use the app on their behalf.
He also shed light on how internet penetration has improved in the past few years. Jio in his view has penetrated a very different section of the market. He stated that millions of retailers sitting in
tier 2 and 3 cities have access problem.
Mobile phone tariffs have gone down but this is not what people in these cities actually. They are ready to pay but what they want is quality.
Siddharth made the following points:
• Availability of network.
• Quality of network.
The fibre rollout challenges
R.K. Bahuguna threw light on Government perspective. He too focused on the issue of delays in the fibre rollout by citing an old example of the year 2000 when the network infrastructure rollout planned in 6 months was actually accomplished
in the year 2006—six year after the conceptualization.
He was also of a view that government contracts, tenders, and business visions for the fibre rollout are not as effective and clear as private ones. Revenue realization is another challenge that
he talked about for which he gave a few examples also. Mr. Bahuguna emphasized on the need for creating a right environment for the fibre rollout and empowering stakeholders to take decisions.
“There are lakhs of retailers sitting in tier 2 and 3 cities who have access problem. Since Jio has
come up tariffs have gone down.
However, it is not about just that.
They are ready to spend but they need that connection so that they
can use that information to may be make their business smart.”
— Siddharth Vij, Founder, ShoeKonnect
“Most of the challenges we faced when we wanted to get money—revenue realization. We
have had very big big customers on our list but we got pain by losing businesses on a very minor
account. This is because the government decides rates and
negotiations.”
— R.K. Bahuguna, Former CMD,
A CyberMedia Publication | voicendata.com | NOVEMBER 2018 | VOICE&DATA | 19
The role of the government
K.S. Rao stated the importance of creating right digital infrastructure and the role of the government for achieving India’s digital ambitions. In his standpoint of
view, network rollout broadly categorizes into three main areas:
• Planning
• Execution
• Strong governance
Mr. Rao suggested the creation of a focused group of policy makers, industry, and the government whose sole responsibility would be to implement of ease of doing business policy.
Network is a utility
Uma Shankar stated that in India fibre and the fibre network have been seen as the private utility, particularly in the urban landscape. This needs to be changed. The government would also have to play a direct role in this—both in terms of policy and implementation.
Network is a utility for all public services to ride.
He said that most cities in India do not understand Right of Way (RoW) Policy. Just obtaining a RoW is not the solution to the fibre rollout. There are so many services on the roads these days that digging roads for laying fibres invariably affects other
utilities such as water lines, sewers, gas pipes, and electricity ducts etc. Cities need to understand RoW first.
Mr. Shankar suggested if the thought of public infra and private business can coexist. He also highlighted the need for standardization and process automation for the fibre rollout.
“Large networks require fixed resolution of issues that come in the project environment.
And at times we have seen that it takes a lot more time than what we have envisaged.
Cash flow has to be absolutely flowing if we want projects to
be executed on time.”
— K.S. Rao, CEO, TSB, Sterlite Technologies
“There are hardly any cities in India including Gurgaon that understand RoW. So, more often than not, the problems in implementation are not limited to intent but they are also at
the level of execution.”
— V. Umashankar, CEO, Gurugram Metropolitan
Development Authority
Best practices
R.K. Bhatnagar started his session by giving an example of Vietnam, which in the last two decades has left India behind in terms of telecommunication
services. One of the main reasons he cited was that of government funded R&D initiatives. Another point he made was of tax incentives in Vietnam that according to him are one of the reasons
why companies like Samsung and Intel are doing well in the country.
Just like other participants of the roundtable, he too underscored the issue of constant delays.
Practical issues
N.K. Goel opened his session by thanking Atul Chaturvedi (Additional Secretary, DIPP) and Arvind Gupta (CEO, MyGov India). He described all efforts to boost network deployment
in the country as a patch work, which is no longer relevant in the current scenario.
Mr. Goel attributed the exponential growth of telecom in India to operators and said that the government bodies
should find a solution to extend help to them. In his view, there is a deafening noise around 5G in India and to catch up with its global rollout. However, considering the current situation, the whole thought looks a bit dicey.
“For ease of doing of business, we have to be very practical. And we have come out with solutions, which support the industry. If right set of measures are taken at
the government level then both industry and the government can
work together. I am sure this will help India become one of the top
10 and 20 countries for ease of doing business.”
— R.K. Bhatnagar, Director General, TEPC
“What we have been doing till now is called patch works.
Holistic things are required now. Auctioning was the best in the past and so was manufacturing. But is it still the
same even now? We can’t live with a burden for a lifetime. We
must find a solution.”
— N.K. Goel President, TEMA
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Rollout learning and suggestions
With the help of Bharatnet project case study, Rajiv Mahajan made a point that if Indian companies are given right guidance and direction then they can also deliver results. He said that to handle
Bharatnet project, a committee was formed to select the technology. The technology thus selected at that time was GEPON technology.
The government at that time took a very good decision by ordering companies to procure 75 percent equipment from
domestic market. This technology inspired others as well. He too like other participants on the roundtable stressed on the issue of delays in payments. In his view, someone in the ministry should be made responsible to address vendor issue.
Ways to tackle
Swati said that ease of doing business is a very big area as far as network deployment is concerned—both in the private sector and in the public sector.
There is going to be a massive fibre rollout in the private sector. However, the money is a very big challenge. In her view, there is scope in the private sector to incentivise the deployment of infrastructure.
She also emphasized on the need of fast-paced, high-quality deployment of government networks. The network will ensure that there is a healthy industry eco-system.
“There should be a steering committee within every ministry, which should look at the issues what manufacturers or vendors are facing. Today, the situation is worse. There is
no one vendors can go up to.
Everyone is passing the buck.”
— Rajiv Mahajan, Sr. VP, Tejas Networks
“I think there is scope for India to have a prompt payment
policy for government, which is what other countries
are doing. Undisputed payment automated with digital payments will bring in transparency...will ensure
accountability.”
— Swati Rangachari, Chairperson, EoB Committee, CII
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standardization and clarity in tender evaluation system
In his address, Sandeep Chawla felt the need for execution of plans is important.
He said that of all the fibre currently laid in the country how much can really carry the 5G load remains a big question. In his view, if the country wants to grow to
the 5G level then most cables require a complete revamp. There quality should also be checked to see whether they can actually sustain the 5G load. Mr. Chawla lamented the tendering process.
He suggested the following options:
• Robust planning (involving people
who have actual knowledge of the project).
• Standardization and clarity in tender evaluation system.
• Execution.
• Committee should be made to resolve issues in a time bound manner.
RoW: under a separate act
Rajan S. Mathews kept his session short by highlighting his points very quickly.
Issues that he mentioned were:
• Inter-department issues.
• Inter-state issues.
• Intra-department issues.
• Financing.
• Automation.
“RoW issues can be resolved easily. They are not as difficult as they appear. Only thing which
is missing is the government’s initiative to actually do it. The persons who are involved in planning are not there at the time
of execution.”
— Sandeep Chawla President, Vindhya Telelinks
“RoW issues coming from the centre. You go to the state, the states will do all their own
things and within the state panchayats will tell you they
are not obligated to state’s secretary as well. They are under a separate act. It is a big
problem.”
— Rajan S. Mathews Director General, COAI
Doing things differently to implement all suggestions
Ibrahim Ahmad threw light on a few interesting points during his session. He said that this debate has been happening since 12 years but nothing substantial
has been achieved even now. The roundtables keep taking place and suggestions fly around like confetti. In his view, it is important now to focus on things that have kept us from resolving all these issues.
Mr. Ahmad stressed on taking action by forming some sort of a committee, which will have all the inputs. He also emphasized on doing things differently to implement all the suggestions in the roundtable.
Transforming outlook: the modern telecom industry
Sunil Gupta emphasized on changing our thinking towards telecom, which, unlike in past, has transformed completely. The modern telecom industry has its own
new requirements that should be fulfilled keeping current scenarios in mind.
He said that the government has not been able to classify the modern age requirements of telecom industry. There is a need to give them facilities to help
them survive in the modern times.
Sunil suggested a partnership between the central and state government. In his view, analysing the journey fibre journey India has covered so far is very important.
“We need a lot of new fresh thinking. This is all about creating national asset. Take away from this for me would be to make sure that we are able to put together some action points on which we are
able to convince the decision and policy makers.”
—Ibrahim Ahmad Group Editor, Cybermedia
“The nature of telecom is today supporting all other sectors
as well such as education, agriculture, finance, industry,
transport, and power among others. However, our thinking
has not changed. Unless we change this...nothing will
happen.”
— Sunil K. Gupta Secretary, TRAI
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unwillingness to perform and deliver
At u l C h a t u r v e d i t h a n ke d t h e participants for having him on the panel. He underscored the importance
of the industry and government working together. Mr. Chaturvedi further stated that the current centre government is the best telecom stakeholders can ask for.
The failure at this stage is not acceptable.
It would be considered as unwillingness to perform or deliver. He assured that the government would review cases of delays in payments and other issues to boost improvement in its policy.
standardization of RFP and checklist for acceptance
Concluding the roundtable, Arvind Gupta highlighted the need for having model RFPs, which he said are there in
other industries also. He advised the participants to have a thought about having model RFPs aggressively.
Mr. Gupta welcomed the feedbacks from the participants of the roundtable.
Recalling Cybermedia’s event in 2014, he said that even the prime minister of India had said that the new India will be built on optical fibres.
“If the people want to deliver, then they would deliver now in
this government. If they can’t deliver now, they can’t deliver
anywhere else after this.”
— Atul Chaturvedi Additional Secretary, DIPP
“Consensus from industry on RFP terms, the standardization
of RFP, and checklist for acceptance. If these things are taken into account you will see a lot of difference. However,
it has to be an industry consensus.”
— Arvind Gupta CEO, MyGov India
Auditing in the age of Artificial Intelligence
The auditing process extends itself to the correctness and reliability of data in a systematic manner. It helps organize the unstructured data which involves emails, social media posts and conference call audio media files
A
rtificial Intelligence is the fabric that promises to be the evolving game changer for various industries and professions. Computing sys- tems are the focal point, not because of their recognition for content but for re- cording of consumption pattern in terms of frequency and immediacy. Biometricpredictive analysis infiltrate daily part of our lives that help transform business operations and interaction exchange between internal and external custom- ers. To kick off proceedings, AI is already being placed in areas involving driverless cars, home energy systems and invest- ment portfolio management. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning have
errors. From virtual assistants to autono- mous vehicles the relationship between auditors and Machine Learning have grown deeper.
Cybersecurity a growing concern
Cybersecurity had taken its peak with incidents such as the WannaCry
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computer fraud and abuse continues to be of threat for billions due to the rise of cloud and mobile technologies. For example, a recent news shared states Google basing all their products on AI and talks of creating a new unit which is underway of being known as Google.
ai. With every improvement in AI the competitive advantage is more open sourced and available to everyone and hence that proves to be a disadvantage for privacy of messages.
Furthermore, given the rapid development and advancement of the IoT, the associated risks and controls are also changing and evolving rapidly. From WhatsApp’s deadly fake news problem in India to the rising banking transaction frauds, it has become critical that internal auditors pay attention to the practical application of AI in business and develop competencies that will enable the internal auditing profession to provide AI- related advisory and assurance services to organizations in all sectors and across all industries to address the growing data breaches.
Changing role of auditors
Internal Auditors are required to move out of mindset of auditing Information Technology General Computer Controls (ITGCC) and/or application controls only with set Risk and Control Matrices.
The earlier data analytical tools like ACL do provide wide coverage for entire population but those are detective procedures. In today’s fast-growing businesses with millions of data getting generated, preventive measure by using AI can be boon to management.
As explained in Artificial Intelligence – Considerations for the Profession of
machine learning-based models, auditors can now improve fraud detection, in some cases on real time basis. The auditing process extends itself to the correctness and reliability of data in a systematic manner. It helps organize the unstructured data which involves emails, social media posts and conference call audio media files.
There is a change required regarding the composition of the auditing team with right skill set.The IA team should know how AI works, understand the risks and opportunities AI present, determine whether AI outcomes are as expected and Be capable of recommending or taking corrective actions.1
Even when the humans make the flaw of approving legal jargons the AI analyses the entire portfolio picking out volumes of information about property value and borrower’s creditworthiness.
The auditing department is now excelling in exponential work as compared to average performance ages ago. There is lot of actions needed at Professional skill development as well where Institute needs to change the way. To meet the challenges, internal auditors should leverage The IIA’s Artificial Intelligence Framework – Global Prospective. Internal Audit should be prepared to advice Board, Coordinate with First Line and Second Line of Defense and provide reasonable assurance on AI where organizations are taking business decisions basis machine learnings & leverage AI tools for conducting the audits by providing real time reports.
Sarabhjit Singh (The author is Chief of Internal Audit &
Assurance - Indus Towers) Internal Auditing, internal audit’s role in
AI is to “help an organization evaluate, understand, and communicate the degree to which artificial intelligence will have an effect (negative or positive) on the organization’s ability to create value in the short, medium, or long term.”1
By making it possible for auditors to work better and smarter, AI will help them to optimize their time, enabling them to use human judgment to analyse a broader and deeper set of data and documents sometime trigging error or fraud much in real time. Accumulating real-time data using technology such as machine learning can help auditors interrogate data and empower them to examine unusual or unexpected items, surfacing risks that subsequently can be addressed and resolved. In a more advanced setting transaction are provided to the AI chatbots which internally gets to identify what “normal transactions” looks like.
The importance of auditors in this process completely switches from performance of the audit to the designing of the audit, similarly could be compared to the process on how Netflix uses its data points, ratings and consumption pattern of the user to direct him to another show of the similar genre, type and actor. There is a dire need to better the questions for CFOs, Auditing Committee and company boards to streamline the relevant information on yearly reviews based on firm’s performance.
Fraud risks on the up
We are now witnessing a changing trend of conducting business that has led to accountability issues for a high probability of fraud risk. By creating sophisticated
The IA team should know how AI works, understand the risks and opportunities AI present, determine whether AI outcomes are as expected and Be capable of
recommending or taking corrective actions
—Vagan Shakhgildian
President and CEO,
UHP Networks Inc
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start with specifics related to ourselves.
We are a specialist VSAT manufacturer, not a 1 billion dollar company. We are a company that has experience—that has managed to grow in the past 7 years. And there is more than ample opportunities for us in India and elsewhere. So for us, the only way is up. I want to continue this growth at breakneck pace if I may.
We are not afraid of the growing size of the addressed market because we are growing at a much higher pace. And we are growing because we are taking market share away from competition.
Secondly, I think VSAT is, perhaps, not playing the same role, which it was playing way back in 1992. Everything is developing including the latest satellite technologies such as high throughput satellites or HDS, high throughput orbits, new frequency bands etc. They are driving the satellite industry and reshaping it in such a way that it will once again become more of mainstream as opposed to a niche technology.
One thing I assume everyone knows here is that out of all communication, media satellite is the most expensive because it costs money to launch it.
However, the price of the satellite bandwidth megahertz over the last 3 to 4 few years has all over the world been
dropping dramatically. So, at the end of the day, satellite once again is likely to become mainstream.
Mobility is one niche or vertical where the use of satellite is integral. No other technology can play substitute for that. High-speed satellite broadband at sea was until recently a prerogative for super yachts because of the very high price of the bandwidth, equipment, and infrastructure. So if you look at the rate card of major global players, there are so many zeroes there.
Together with our partners, we were able to change that notion. So what used to be $ 60,000-70,000 terminal has now become, through various technological advancements, $8,000- 10,000 terminal. It is now affordable not only to high-end boat operators but also to operators of fishing boats. Therefore, it is a practical learning point. We are currently deploying 19,000 vessels, which may end up being the largest maritime network in the world. So whole new market niche, which did not exist 2 years ago, has been created and we are looking to propagate and proliferate this all over the world.
Voice&Data: In satellite, it is not just about the equipment cost. It is also about Voice&Data: Tell us about your
perception of the Indian market.
Vagan Shakhgildian: India is probably one of the most dynamic economies in the world. The economic indicators are very positive for India and for its blooming telecom market. It is a country of a large population. It is asserting itself more and more from what we can see in the international arena. It is participating in many international missions, providing infrastructure to the neighbouring countries including SAARC countries.
So its influences go far beyond the borders of India. A lot of Indian telecom companies have successfully forayed into African and Asian markets. To us, as far as the satellite industry is concerned, that is a very good sign.
Voice&Data: In India, it has been said for a long time that somehow other technologies have been able to prevent the VSAT industry from growing and, in various policy documents, which have come out over the last 20 years or so, VSAT has sometimes said to be neglected. So how hopeful are you that VSAT will be a big market for you as well as other satellite players?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Well, I am very hopeful. Why? Well, first of all, I will
“Our mission is to focus on high
complexity high-added value networks.
We are looking at completely redefining and revolutionizing some of the system architectures and applications.”
In an exclusive interaction with V&D, Vagan Shakhgildian, President
and CEO, UHP Networks Inc., shares a new progressive glimpse of
the VSAT industry and talks about the company’s future in India and
challenges. Edited excerpts:
the service cost. So, similarly, do you also see service cost going down? In India again, the perception is that the satellite service cost is still very high.
Vagan Shakhgildian: Bandwidth costs over the last few years have been slashed dramatically if you look at some analysts reports...
Voice&Data: Even in India?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Well, in India, it is an interesting situation. I am not an expert on the bandwidth cost in India but the competition here is harsh and somewhat restricted because foreign satellite operators are not allowed to operate. They are allowed to operate only with some specific authorizations. Such authorizations, known as landing rights exist in other countries as well but here the process is perhaps more elaborate. I have been involved in acquiring landing rights for satellites in Brazil. I know that it is not a straight-forward process. However, I think here from what I have heard is much more elaborate. So, therefore, in the presence of restricted competition, obviously, it is difficult to make sure that the prices go down.
Voice&Data: So are you also meeting or in touch with the policy makers and government officials about this aspect of the market?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Well, you see we are so focused on what we are doing, which is innovation in the field of equipment, manufacturing, marketing, and rolling out solutions that perhaps for us it will be a little bit difficult. Currently, we have been expressing our views directly or through various partners.
However, we, until now, have not made it our priority. So I think there are plenty of other project players who, probably, should be doing this.
Voice&Data: In India what would be some of the key areas you would be focusing on?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Our mission is to
copying what someone else is doing and offering the same at a 15 % lower price. We are looking at completely redefining and revolutionizing some of the system architectures and applications. So creating new markets through technology innovation such as broadband connectivity for fishing boats and anything that works towards that—whether this is super compact or so-called man pact terminals for the national defence or providing national broadcast here in India with a very compact and low cost highly reliable infrastructure, such as hobs and remote terminals for video news gathering or analyst systems for either sector with a national defence. We will be doing all of that. So it is a high-end application with high throughput data with video. These are the areas we are focusing on.
Voice&Data: What will be your go-to- market take here in India? Will it be directly or you will be working with partners and system integrators?
Vagan Shakhgildian: We will be working with partners and system integrators.
We have selected several of them. They are helping us participate in certain programs and successfully develop more partnerships with larger organizations, which have been obviously very active for decades in the field of Satcom and defence electronic system. We are working with all of them without any exception and we are fortunate to have a couple of loyal and forward-thinking partners who are helping us to develop those partnerships.
Voice&Data: You also talked about the neighbouring countries. You would be looking at or the India person would be looking at the neighbouring countries also?
Vagan Shakhgildian: A number of programs that the government of India executes are aimed at advanced economic development in the SAARC countries. We have been fortunate
deployed here in Delhi and the network in Maldives. And this is all a reality as we speak because those programs are actually both driven and funded by India. So naturally, our Indian partners are involved in those.
Voice&Data: Other reasons why other a lot of technology companies come to India is for the talent that we have in India? Is there any thought on having some sort of a development centre here in India?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Yes. It is under consideration. In fact, that is one main purpose of my visit to India. We were discussing this with our group and partners. We are on the course of establishing a support centre right now. We are looking to provide systems and solutions engineering solutions to countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia because our system is quite complex. So solution and system engineering will be done here in India and it will be addressing the needs of the aforementioned countries.
Voice&Data: Nothing regarding manufacturing?
Vagan Shakhgildian: We are fully prepared to start manufacturing in India.
Why I keep saying that our product our architecture is revolutionary is that UHP is essentially a breakthrough technology that is building a piece of infrastructure or network control, base stations, and central stations using principles of distributed computing to achieve high-processing capability required. So, therefore, the manufacturing process itself is quite straightforward, which is not to say that a less straightforward process cannot be established here in India. Of course, it could be. However, as of now, case areas to establishing and manufacturing centres in India are less than other technologies out there.
Voice&Data: You have sort of repeatedly used this word revolutionary and
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Our mission is to focus on high complexity high-added value networks. Our group is not about copying what someone else is doing and
offering the same at a 15 % lower price
from the ones which are currently here in India?
Vagan Shakhgildian: We are transporting bits and bytes over the satellites…
over voice calls or video calls and so forth. However, we are doing it a little bit differently. Our universal hardware platform is thoroughly software refined architecture, which actually supports all network topologies—something that alternative technologies can’t do.
If you look at our processing modules we were able to come up with hardware architecture and embedded software that achieves the highest processing capability measured in any metrics such as packets per second on compress, voice calls per second, per cubic inch, and per single watt of consumed power. It is able to process 200,000 packets per second as well as connect to two networks or two satellites at the same time. It is a very advanced microwave transmitter and receiver, very efficient, very advanced communication protocol as well as very powerful IP router. It can even at that platform act as a master controller, which assigns bandwidth to up to 2,000 remote stations in a dynamic fashion. So we are far ahead of the competition.
Voice&Data: How does it compare with competitors in terms of pricing?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Well, you see, we are looking at achieving those kinds of breakthroughs. So before I address your point about pricing head-on, I would like to talk about something else also.
We have a major network in Mexico.
It is a very big media company in the Spanish speaking world. They were using two VSAT networks from two different vendors in the past. One of them was
European group that supplied to them the best technology for news gathering.
So you had one rack worth of equipment taking care of the satellite for news gathering and then you had two full racks worth of equipment taking care of connectivity for UHF transmitters all over Mexico. Therefore, three racks worth of equipment in a data centre. Now, in the middle, there is one more rack. However, only one core of that rack is occupied and that is our equipment. Those other three racks are no longer in use. Our equipment occupying the only quarter of the rack has taken over the functions. Believe me that equipment was not implemented some 100 years ago. That equipment is very recent and is still kind of cutting-edge.
So to speak, we were able to provide a factor of 12 saving in reality. It gives you an idea that I am not claiming that we are 12 times cheaper or lower cost but certainly that is another way that you have looked at this. Any engineer would say that well I m dealing with some sort of a different generational technology. There is something that these guys are doing differently. So there is a significant gain in pricing and as far as remote terminals are concerned, it is comparable. We are certainly not 12 times low cost compared to Hughes but it is comparable. However, when you look at through the high- end terminals such as those maritime terminals, then there is a factor of 3-4 difference in our favour. Our mission is not to come into a kind of traditional broadband connectivity network with some magic numbers that others use for VSAT terminals. We are coming into higher niches such as high-throughput maritime connectivity, connectivity for media organizations and so on and offering
high-end products 5 times cheaper. That is what we are all about.
Voice&Data: How big do you think your business would be here in the next couple of years’ time?
Vagan Shakhgildian: Well, when we started we were zero and now we are talking about 4 to 5 networks and I think 3 have already been awarded, one has been installed, and two are in the process to be shipped and will be installed in the coming months. So we have some huge infinite growth rate right now because if you divide anything by zero you will get a very high number. So that sort of growth is difficult to replicate—not to say impossible. I think that in two years time we will definitely be a dominant player in the field of private VSAT networks. In the field of private hubs, whether it is for state government, police force, Indian navy, Indian air force, we would like to be one of the top players.
Voice&Data: What are some of the concerns do you see can come in the way of growth?
Vagan Shakhgildian: One concern when you are growing at a very high pace is that we need to maintain both the quality of product and solutions.
We need to fill those sales and support channels as fast as like any army. You need to ensure the foundations on which you are building new advanced coverage areas are solid.
Ibrahim Ahmed [email protected] gyanendra Mohan Rashali ([email protected])