TCOE India has already submitted the proposal for setting up of TEDC and TSDO in India to DOT for implementation.

Telecom Entrepreneurship Development Centre (TEDC)

Introduction     

India has seen tremendous growth in the telecom sector over the last decade and has now one of the highest telecom subscribers in the world. However, the penetration of telephony, especially in rural and sub-urban India, still continues to the among lowest in the world. There is an urgent need to take progressive measures to catalyze the growth of telecom in the rural sector.

A large number of energetic and innovative next generation entrepreneurs are required across the country to give boost to local manufacturing and solutions capable to meet the growing needs of Indian rural market.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are seen as two important pillars of development of a sector and any economy in general. Growth of Information Technology and Telecom sector in India are examples of how innovation and entrepreneurship combined with right government policy can bring about a revolutionary growth in a sector. However, rural India has been to a large extent deprived of the telecom boom because of lack of innovation and entrepreneurs geared towards solving rural India’s problems. The problem is further deepened because of the fact that currently there is no formal system of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship for rural telecom sector.

While there has been significant attempt made by organizations like Department of Science and Technology, Venture Capitalists and Incubators to promote innovation in general, a more focused approach for the rural telecom sector is the need of the hour.

Keeping in mind the above situation, the Telecom Centre of Excellence Coordination Center and IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) and Idea IIMA Telecom Centre of Excellence (IITCOE) propose to set-up the “Telecom Entrepreneurship Development Center” which shall be a complete ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in the rural telecom space.

The broad objective of the proposed TEDC will be to develop Rural Telcom Technology and Applications, both from within and outside the TCOE system, through dynamic techno-entrepreneurs by creating an environment of a single window support system (with the support of all TCOEs, CDOT and industry experts). The TEDC is expected to become self reliant within 5 to 7 years.

Objective of the TEDC

TEDC aims at providing conducive environment comprising of necessary technical, financial, infrastructure and mentoring support for early stage telecom start-ups aimed at creating solutions for rural India and making telecom services more affordable and ubiquitously available. The goal of this initiative is to build at least 20 innovative and successful enterprises focused on providing telecom solutions for rural India within the next 5 years.

The TEDC would build a symbiotic relationship between various stakeholders to accomplish the following –

1.      Build and leverage the existing infrastructure (physical and technical) in India to provide support to innovators and entrepreneurs

2.      Leverage the human resources and expertise existing in research institutes in India

3.      Spin-off technologies being developed by innovators into viable enterprises

4.      Attract the best brains to collaboratively work towards solving problems of mass applications.

Telecom Standardization Development Organization (TSDO) of India

TSDO (Telecom Standardization Development Organization) should be set up in PPP mode. India has witnessed a tremendous growth in the telecom sector in the last decade. This has been made possible due to significant advances in telecom technology, especially the growth of cellular wireless systems the world over. This growth in India was also facilitated by the regulatory framework adopted by the Indian telecom regulator and policy changes introduced by the government from time to time. However, despite this significant growth, most of the technology and equipment used by Indian service providers are imported. India’s presence in International telecom technology development is practically non-existent. Indian presence in International telecom standards is also marginal. As a result, the standards and technology developed elsewhere do not reflect the needs and requirements of Indian service providers and/or may not be optimized. A need has been felt to promote Indian service providers’ requirements and Indian IPR into International standards. The TSDO of India is envisaged to fulfill this need.

Indian TSDO will help to create an eco system for telecom equipment manufacturing in India which is not a viable business proposition today due to significant outflow on royalties.