India 3rd largest country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation: Nishant Batra

Nokia Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Nishant Batra lauded the Indian government's approach towards 6G spectrum and said that India has become third largest country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation.

Nokia has started hiring top talents in its Bengaluru office with competence in 6G standardisation and India has become third largest country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation, Batra told PTI at Mobile World Congress here.

"We have already started seeing a moment in India to define the 6G spectrum. It is a very encouraging and progressive step by the government. In this case, I am actually proud to say that it is taking a progressive step beyond what the rest of the world is doing," Batra said.

On November 1, 2021 the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) constituted a Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG-6G) with members from various Ministries/Departments, R&D institutions, Telecom Service Providers and industry to develop vision, mission and goals for 6G and also develop roadmap and action plans for 6G in India.

The TIG-6G has constituted six Task Forces with industry, academia, R&D institutions and the government as members on Multi-Disciplinary Innovative Solutions, Multiplatform Next Generation Networks, Spectrum for Next Generation Requirements, Devices, International Standards Contribution and Funding Research and Development, according to an official release earlier.

India is also contributing to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 6G visioning exercise, the release added.

When asked about India's progress on 5G and the strategic impact that it has on the company, Batra said Nokia's manufacturing is now getting oriented towards India.

"India is emerging as a big digital opportunity of this decade. From infrastructure which is 5G, to application to the whole technology stack," Batra said. Nokia India sales increased by 25 per cent in the December 2022 quarter to 1.29 billion euros from 1.03 billion euros a year ago.

India was the second latest market for Nokia during the December 2022 quarter on account of rapid rollout of the 5G network. "There is so much excitement about India that you can't even imagine. India started late in 5G but started with a bang. If the same pace of roll out continues, it will keep us very busy for at least next 2.5-4 years," Batra said.

At Nokia headquarters, Batra has responsibility for corporate strategy, technology architecture and pioneering research at Nokia Bell Labs, Nokia's information technology (IT) infrastructure and digitization initiatives, centralized security domains; as well as Nokia's venture capital activities across the globe.

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