3rd Sat Paul Mittal Memorial Lecture in Telecommunication by UIET, PU

Chandigarh: ‘Government of India has declared mandatory testing and certification guidelines for all the Telecommunication Products to be launched in India’ said Ms. Deepa Tyagi, Senior DDG and Head, Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), DoT, Government of India while delivering 3rd Sat Pal Memorial Lecture on Telecommunication organized by University Institute of Engineering and Technology(UIET), Panjab University in Online Mode today. TEC does the testing and certification by involving various laboratories spread across country. Surveillance of products under MTCTE is carried out by Licensed Service Area (LSA) field unit of DoT. 

Ms. Deepa Tyagi stated that India is a major entity in telecommunications as it has the second largest telecommunication network, largest number of data consumers, and there is AI penetration in all top sectors. Several challenges need to be addressed such as lack of Internet access for all citizens, unreliable power supply in few rural areas, digital illiteracy. Role of standardization to ensure interoperability of devices is fulfilled by Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) like International Telecommunication Union(ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE), European Telecommunication Standards Institute(ETSI), International Organization for Standardization(ISO), 3rd Generation Partnership Project, oneM2M (Machine to Machine) and TEC. She traced the evolution of 5G starting from 1G analog, 2G digital, 3G mobile data, 4G mobile broadband to 5G having extreme speed, reliability and connectivity. Several 5G usage scenarios include areas of enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine type communications, ultra-reliable and low latency communications. Potential applications of such human-human, human-machine and machine-machine communications exist in rural broadband, enabling smart cities, fleet management of food grains, etc. She also discussed deployment strategies of 5G worldwide including various challenges in Internet of Things(IoT), technical challenges include connectivity, reliability, cost, policy challenges include IPR, data localization, governance and some common challenges like standards, interoperability, security and privacy.

She also shared that 10-Digit number which we use currently for the mobile phones will not be sufficient for the future usage of machine-2-machine communication where billions of devices will be connected. TEC has recommended the use of 13-digit numbering system for SIM based devices. Even 128-bit IP address will also need revision in future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will shape the future of communication. There is need to have an India specific stack for AI and standardization in AI has already been started. Network technologies beyond 2030 will be Holographic Type Communication, Tactile Internet for Remote Operations, Intelligent Operation Network, Digital Twin, Space-Terrestrial Integrated Network, Industrial IoT with cloudification. 

She also discussed Blockchain technology which is an immutable distributed ledger-based system with no central authority. It has been used successfully in the USA for COVID vaccination distribution. She presented potential use cases of Blockchain technology in telecom networks in the areas of IoT connectivity and its services, prevention of roaming frauds, enablement of 5G, identity as a service etc. 

Professor Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University congratulated the Team UIET for organizing the lecture and expected that the Bharti Chair Endowment will contribute in a more significant way. 

Professor J. K. Goswamy, Director UIET stressed on understanding the basic need of communication and thereafter to work on the different use cases for research. He emphasized that the social aspects of developments in telecommunication technology should be given due consideration. 

Professor Pamela Kumar, Visiting Professor Bharti Chair, introduced the distinguished speakers and set the context for the lecture and the vision for future activities. Dr. Veenu Mangat proposed vote of thanks for the guests, Bharti Enterprises group, organizers and all attendees. 

Earlier, Professor Sakshi Kaushal welcomed all the guests and introduced Sh. Sat Paul Mittal who was elected twice to Rajya Sabha for a term of six years each in 1976 and 1982. United Nations decorated him with the prestigious United Nations Peace Medal in 1987. 

Professor Harish Kumar shared the research activities of Bharti Chair in the last couple of years. Telecom Research Lab is working on different products along with participating in ITU, 3GPP, OneM2M activities. Plan for next 2 years will focus on research in the area of development of Telecommunication Use Cases for Healthcare and Agriculture. 

Bharti Chair in Information Technology and Telecommunications was established in UIET, Panjab University in 2002 by Bharti Telecom Group in the memory of Late Sh. Sat Paul Mittal, a visionary leader. For this purpose, endowment was given by Sh. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises for enhancement of knowledge in the field of telecommunication. 

200+ faculty/ research scholars/ students along with external stakeholders participated in Virtual Mode. Team from Bharti Enterprises represented by Ms. Mickey Khindria and Mr. Ashutosh Kalia, as nominated by Sh. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman also participated as panelists in the session. Lecture was also live Telecast on Panjab University’s social media accounts like Facebook, YouTube. Recording of the lecture is also available on: