India Mobile Congress 2018

India Mobile Congress 2018 (IMC) was a technology event and international conference jointly organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. IMC 2018 was the second edition of the iconic India Mobile Congress event that is held annually in New Delhi, India. It was held at Aerocity, New Delhi from 25 October 2018 to 27 October 2018.

The main thrust area at IMC 2018 was the potential of 5G technology and its use cases. A number of companies presented their roadmaps for their readiness for deployment of 5G technology in India. The India Mobile Congress 2018 was awarded as "The Knowledge Hub" at Exhibition Excellence Awards 2019 held in Expo Center, Greater Noida in March 2019.

Inauguration

The inauguration of IMC2018 took place on 25 October 2019, around 10am. The three-day international event was inaugurated by Manoj Sinha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways. A number of important industry stakeholders, ministers and experts attended the inaugural session, such as:

Indian government officials

*Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice
*Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation
*Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing & Urban Affairs
* Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary (T) & Chairperson, Telecom Commission

International policy makers

* Tram Iv Tek, Minister of Posts & Telecommunications, Cambodia
* U Thant Sin Maung, Union Minister for Transportation & Communications, Myanmar;
* Bounsaleumsay Khennavong, Lao PDR; and
* H.E. Gokul Prasad Baskota, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Nepal

Industry stakeholders

* Dr Youngky Kim, President and Head of Samsung Networks
* Vivek Badrinath, Regional CEO, Africa Middle East Asia Pacific, Vodafone Group
*Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and chairman, Bharti Enterprises
*Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries Limited
*Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group

The crowd of over 5000 visitors for the inaugural ceremony included policy makers, ambassadors, opinion makers, change agents, bureaucrats and investors from over 20 countries.

International Conference

The high caliber three-day international conference is one of the main things that set
India Mobile Congress
apart from other technology and telecom exhibitions in the region. IMC attracts the biggest and the most famous international speakers in the telecom and technology space and that makes it a popular choice for Indian and foreign delegates, including tech enthusiasts, young professionals, businessmen, industry leaders, analysts, media persons and students.

IMC 2019 also saw the presence of high-level ministerial delegations from several BIMSTEC and ASEAN countries. Ministers from the European Commission, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Lao PDR led their respective delegations, and participated in plenary sessions that were focused on the specific needs, challenges, and opportunities applicable to member countries of these regional forums.

Theme

The theme for the 2018 edition of India Mobile Congress was "New Digital Horizons – Connect. Create. Innovate."

Sessions

Top Speakers

* Ajit Pai
* Andrus Ancip
* Johannes Gungl
* Kumar Mangalam Birla
* Mukesh Ambani
* R.S.Sharma
* Sunil Bharti Mittal
* Youngky Kim

Exhibition

Event partners

There were a number of high-profile brands that partnered with IMC for the 2018 edition including Samsung, Huawei, Qualcomm, Tech Mahindra, Facebook, Google, and several others.

Top exhibitors

List of start-ups

Key Highlights and Announcements

A number of key announcements were made at the India Mobile Congress.
{, class="wikitable"
, S. No.
, Organization / Company
, Announcement
, Relevance for India
, -
, 1.a.
, Samsung & R Jio
, 5G Live Demo of the Skyship Drone
, Applications in public safety & surveillance, agriculture monitoring and disaster response.
, -
, 1.b..
, Ericsson & R Jio
, Demo of connected car on a 5G network
, Environmental quality, reduce traffic collisions and fatality rates. Driver safety and data processing and management.
, -
, 2.
, Ericsson & Airtel
, Drone flying on 5G. Surveillance and logistics

, Autonomous drone applications in  mission-critical applications, disaster management, emergency deliveries, medicine and remote surveillance.
, -
, 3
, Nokia
, Manufacturing of Nokia 5G NR (New Radio)
, Nokia's state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Chennai will start large scale manufacturing of 5G New Radio enabling made in India for the World.
, -
, 4.
, Ericsson
, Export of 5G ready equipment from India
, Ericsson started exporting 5G ready telecom equipment from its manufacturing facility in Pune, to global markets. Its state-of-the-art facility will cater enabling made in India for the World
, -
, 5.
, BSNL, Airtel, JIo, Vodafone idea
, One Million WiFi Hotspots across India
, The telecom industry will install 1 million Wi-Fi hotspots in the next 12 months. Interoperability across different WiFi networks thereby enabling smooth experience for subscribers, as he or she will be able to use the data plan taken from any TSP for all the WiFi Hotspots deployed across India. Besides offering consumer delight, this industry initiative will create additional 3 lakh jobs.

Awards and recognition

India Mobile Congress won the award for "The Knowledge Hub" at the Exhibition Excellence Awards 2019 held at Expo Center, Greater Noida on 23 March 2019.

References

External links

Official website

Cellular Operators Association of India

Telecommunication conferences