Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology  Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said India will take a lead in 6G as it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s desire to take a global lead the sixth-generation wireless technology.

The statement has come the day after the launch of 5G services in the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Addressing the launch event PM said, “130 crore Indians are getting a wonderful gift in the form of 5G.”

He also stated that it is the beginning of a new era and will provide infinite opportunities.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was also present during the launch of 5G yesterday. He emphasized that the most important study groups for the future development of 5G and sixth-generation (6G) mobile systems under the International Telecommunications Union are now being chaired by Indian delegates.

He had earlier stated that a consortium of 11 institutions including IIT Chennai, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore has created 4G technology in 14 months with expenditure of about USD 30 million which is a very small fraction of the cost at which dominant players in the telecom sector have created the technology.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the roll-out of 5G in the country was a very big confidence booster to India’s aspirations for growth and added that the enthusiasm surrounding the launch is truly empowering.

The leaders of the telecom sector were also present on Saturday during the launch of 5G. 

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, and Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla joined PM Modi at the launch of 5G services.

6G is the sixth generation mobile system standard currently under development for wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks. It is the planned successor to 5G and will likely be significantly faster.

Like its predecessors, 6G networks will probably be broadband cellular networks, in which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells. Several companies such as Anritsu, NTT Docomo, Keysight, Fly, Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, Samsung, LG, Apple, Xiaomi, Jio, Airtel, and research institutes like Technology Innovation Institute have shown interest in 6G networks.

(with inputs from ANI)