Well regarded Japanese telecom company NTT along with India’s TCIL (Telecommunications Consultants of India Limited), has recently announced that they will be becoming partners and cooperate within areas of Cybersecurity, AI (Artificial Intelligence), submarine-based cable systems and 5G technology, as per a report by ET Telecom. This comes after similar instances occurring in India, such as in 2018, wherein BSNL had formed an alliance with the Japanese telecom major (NTT) so as to work together in areas of IoT (Internet of Things), AI and more. Another instance of this was seen in April of 2019, wherein NTT-AT and the IITH (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad) formed a pact so as to accelerate the development of advanced tech in a bid to accelerate industry-academia related collabs.
What Are The Contents Of This Deal
The two year deal with NTT, which is also extendable if required, is meant to enable both of these companies to provide each other with services in telecom, information, networking and related applications for their consumers. The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) states that both parties agree to cooperate, discuss, transfer knowledge on a non-exclusive basis and conduct workshops so as to explore the evolution of services such as Cybersecurity, 5G, AI, IoT, skill development, smart cities, submarine cable and test lab. Additionally, via this partnership, India’s state-operated telecom engineering and consulting company would be given the authority to leverage Tokyo-based NTT’s integration, networking and product management related expertise within the country and other initiatives around the seas. In a statement, Sanjeev Kumar, the Chairman of TCIL, said that NTT would be acting as a tech provider for the next generation (5G) networks and boost AI-based applications, blockchain and digital services in relation to healthcare. However, he did add that the alliance may also provide a possibility, no matter how remote it may be, to bid for BSNL’s (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) 4G deployment with 5G upgradable equipment. As per the official, the partnership with the Japanese based company would also result in a competitive edge which is followed by a dependence cut on Chinese products due to events that took place in 2020. To add to this, earlier this year, the fourth-largest telco in its wish to move into commercial 4G services has invited bids for up to 57,000 sites that can be made use of during the 5G rollout via upgradability. TCIL’s technical director Kamendra Kumar said that the partnership makes the organisation committed to working with the corporation more closely so as to achieve the common goals and make the partnership fruitful for both companies.
