Union Railway and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday inaugurated Nokia’s 6G Lab facility at Bengaluru established by Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia.
“The inauguration of the Nokia 6G research lab in Bengaluru today is another step towards PM Narendra Modi’s vision of making India an innovation hub. Interesting use cases coming out of this lab will be related to transportation safety, health care and education which will be another big contribution to the entire Digital India suite,” Vaishnaw said in a statement.
The first-of-its-kind project aims to accelerate the development of fundamental technologies and innovative use cases underpinned by 6G technology that will address the future needs of both industry and society.
Last month, India’s vision to have ubiquitous coverage under 6G technology was accepted by UN body ITU’s Study Group in its meeting held in Geneva -- a move that is expected to reduce the cost of deployment of the next-generation technology.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) decides on the development of international mobile telecommunication standards after coordination with its member countries, technology companies and other stakeholders. India has already secured more than 200 patents on 6G technology through Industry and academia collaboration with the support of the Department of Telecom.
“Nokia is honoured to contribute towards the realisation of the Indian government’s ‘Bharat 6G vision’. We look forward to collaborating with key stakeholders to help India become a major player in 6G technology development and adoption, and take its place in the global arena as a leading developer and supplier of advanced telecom technologies and solutions,” Nokia Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Nishant Batra said.
Nokia’s 6G lab will function as a platform for collaboration among industry stakeholders and facilitate the testing of innovative solutions while establishing their potential for commercialisation.
The lab includes a setup to research ‘Network as a Sensor’ technology that enables the network to sense objects, people and movement without the need for onboard sensors. In the 6G era, ‘Network as a Sensor’ has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together, the statement said.