[ad_1]
The business arm of the US-based telecom carrier Verizon is optimistic about the private 5G network market in India, saying that the company is undertaking a few proof-of-concepts, and such a deployment requires a combination of network and managed service providers. In an interaction with ETTelecom’s Muntazir Abbas, Robert Le Busque, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific at Verizon Business Group talks on digital transformation, private 5G offering, frequency bands, and partner ecosystem. Edited excerpts.
What are the trends that are driving digital consumption?
There are a few major trends that are driving technology consumption. The first major trend that we know is cloud technology. Artificial intelligence, new platforms are making companies and enterprises change the networks so that they can deliver applications and data more effectively to their users. Customers are migrating to new network architectures, such as sassy, secure access, service, edge and zero trust network architecture, and what we’re calling network as a service. Which is more of an approach to designing a corporate network, so that we have greater agility, greater choice and greater diversity in the way that they build their network.
How are you engaging with companies or enterprises on a 5G private network?
I can talk about some industries where we’re starting to deploy and run tests. It’s quite interesting because where we are seeing early adoption in companies and sectors that are not necessarily known for being technology innovators. We are seeing a lot of proof of concept and work. We are working with numerous customers in the automotive manufacturing industry at the moment. We are helping them to understand how they can use private 5G networks in their manufacturing facilities to increase productivity, and to improve worker health and safety in those sites as well. We are also seeing projects that we’re working on currently with logistics and supply chain operators.
Do you foresee any kind of private 5G network opportunity in the Indian market?
There is such a huge opportunity in India, given the manufacturing base, the significant amount of investment that is going into smart manufacturing in India, as part of the risk profile of this changing Asia Pacific region. That means that there is a great opportunity in the marketplace for this technology. And ultimately, when it comes to private 5G deployments, it’s a combination of network and managed service providers such as Verizon. There’ll be application and device manufacturers and providers that will be part of that ecosystem as well. And I think those lessons can be learned by Indian corporations, when they look at other deployed private 5G solutions elsewhere in the region, elsewhere around the world. There’s a great opportunity for the Indian marketplace to really accelerate and leapfrog to the front of the pack.
Is there any active discussion in place currently?
We are very actively working with our customers and our partners in India on a continuous basis, and talking to them about the technology and the value it brings to them. They tell us that they are ready. They are excited about the technology. We need those building blocks in place around the spectrum allocation so that we can bring those services to customers.
Are you open to work directly with enterprises in their captive 5G network strategies?
Our approach to the market when it comes to 5G not just in India, but all over the region, is to build an ecosystem of partners. And that means not just ourselves, application providers, equipment providers. In some cases, we would help our customers identify other spectrum providers so that they might need to work with as well to help them bring that solution together.
Do you think it’s the right time for India to identify more frequency bands for the private 5G services?
There are millimeter wave (mmWave) and ultra high bands. There are applications for both. But ultimately, that’s a decision for the national regulators and bodies to determine how they would like to frame the market. And then it’s for Verizon and other service providers to understand how we can deliver services in that market. We have expertise in both. We have experience in mid band, as well as millimeter wave technology in 5G. We feel confident that regardless of the policy settings, we will have solutions and we will have expertise, experience and capability that we’ll be able to bring to our Indian customers and partners.
How closely do you work with your partner base?
We have worked very closely with technology partners. We’ve worked with them. In some cases, we co-innovate and co-develop with them, so that we can bring their technologies into our service stack, and can provide that for our customers. In other cases, we partner with companies and organizations that help us to gain access to markets and to customer segments to expand our reach and create a network effect for our footprint here in the region. So we have many different types of partnership models, but it’s quite a significant part of our business, one that we continue to focus on. It does include partnerships with systems integrators both locally and globally.
What’s your roadmap for the Asia region in the next couple of years?
Core networking and data networks are going through a really significant transformation. So part of our core roadmap will be supporting our largest enterprise customers on that journey of transformation. So between now and 2030, the big trend will be investment in innovation and technology development in the Asia Pacific region, including India, which is a great innovator. Some cutting edge technology is developed right here in the Asia region, including in India. The race in this region is to develop it, commercialize it and then bring it to the global market as quickly as they possibly can. So, we are ready to help our partners and customers.
[ad_2]
Source link