5G to open up new job opportunities, says Telecom Secretary

5G will spur jobs in areas like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things, and other areas

The advent of 5G is expected to open up new job opportunities in the market, requiring suitable skilling of manpower in new technologies, Telecom Secretary K. Rajaraman said on May 18.

Mr. Rajaraman, who was speaking at an event of Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC), said that from BharatNet to space communications, and from 5G to fixed-line broadband services, the telecom sector would unlock new job requirements of various categories.

He exhorted the industry to look closely at the creation of the talent pipeline to address these emerging opportunities.

"5G growth will come from number of use case it would permit in various industrial settings...5G, because of nature of technology and capability it offers, will open up new range of skills," Mr. Rajaraman said.

The top DoT official affirmed that 5G will spur jobs in areas like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things, and other areas.

Fixed wireline broadband too, where penetration levels are low, in fact, far below the global benchmarks, has the clear headroom for double-digit growth, he pointed out.

"Soon we hope to address the policy constraints which are facing the fixed wireline industry and see how we can provide the push needed to take the industry forward," he said adding that the high growth rates can absolutely be afforded given the potential and the current small base.