DoT invites expression of interest for 5G VEPP initiative

Department of Telecommunications invites Expression of Interest for 5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program (VEPP) initiative

What is the news :

• The Department of Telecommunications (Dot) has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for “5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program (VEPP)”initiative to build strong collaboration partnerships across 5G Use-case ecosystem stakeholders with velocity and with an exclusive emphasis to address User/Vertical Industry needs.
• In order to multiply the 5G opportunities across the usage verticals, under the guidance of Secretary (Telecom), an Inter-Ministerial Committee chaired by Member (Technology), Digital Communications Commission is constituted with representatives from Ministry of Electronics and IT, Department of Science and Technology & relevant Vertical Ministries Agriculture, Health, Urban Affairs, Education, Power, Mines, Jalshakthi, Commerce, Ports, Railways, Heavy Industries, Road Transport, Tourism etc. to facilitate collaborative efforts across stakeholders.

5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program (VEPP) initiative:

• “5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program” is being offered to Industry verticals which have potential as testing cum breeding grounds for innovative 5G use cases, through an Expression of Interest (EoI) to enable close collaborationbetween User verticals and 5G Tech stakeholders (Service providers, Solution providers & partner OEMs), which can trigger a multiplier effect to try & finetune 5G digital solutions in respective economic verticals.

Stakeholders who can Apply:

S.No	Category Type	Brief description & examples
1	User/Vertical Industries (Private & Public)	●  Individual Vertical Enterprise user /Group of Enterprises (Multiple verticals) Eg: Logistic Hubs, Factories, Agri Institutions, Power Utility Companies, Hospitals, Mining Agencies, Educational / Skill Development Institutions, Banks/Banking institutions, CoEs, Malls/Recreation centers/Retail stores, Tourism & cultural centers, Hotels, Ports, Airports, Stadiums, Manufacturing Units etc.
2	Service providers	● Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) ● M2M service providers etc.
3	Solution Providers/System Integrators (SIs)	● End to End Use case providers (including OEMs) ● System Integrators
4	Solution Partners/ /Devices, Sensors, Equipment Vendors (OEMs)	●  Any Start-up/MSME/industry which has demonstrable use cases ●  Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Network Domain ●  OEMs in CPEs/Devices/Instruments/Sensors/Smart Machinery & Meters/ Devices/robots/Drones (BLVOS)etc. in all user verticals viz. Medical, Power, Smart Metering, IoT, Mining etc.

Roles of Stakeholders under 5G Vertical Engagement and Partnership Program (VEPP)- Access to New Opportunities and Facilitation in Untapped 5G Ecosystem 

1. Role of the VEPP Partner

• Identify Single Point of Contact (SPoC)
• Ideate and collaborate with other ecosystem players for relevant 5G use cases
• Facilitate access to relevant premises/campus/infra/data for use-case piloting and prototyping to address prevalent problems and also performance efficiencies.
• Hold vertical specific Hackathons to encourage digital innovations from new innovators apart from existing partners
• Other actions as may be necessary to support the 5G ecosystem

2. Facilitation from Dot

• Non-exclusive access to 5G Tech Ecosystem (Telecom Service Providers, Solution providers, Solution partners/Device & Equipment vendors) to enable partnerships.
• Conduct awareness sessions on 5G opportunity in the respective vertical at NTIPRIT.
• Facilitate –
  1. Experimental Spectrum
  2. Access to Academia testbed and engagement with academia
  3. Virtual / emulated 5G test infra at the premises of interest for the end User (as may be necessary and availability)
  4. Use cases for live demonstration in Telecom Public Networks
  5. Engagement with vertical Ministries for necessary enabling regulatory policies and pilots as feasible
  6. Use case Standardization & Interoperability with the support of TEC & C-DOT
  7. Role of Tech Stakeholders

Service providers, Solution providers, Solution partners, Device & Equipment OEMs would work in unison to develop, prototype, pilot, and deploy Use cases as per the needs of the Vertical User requirements which would potentially accelerate 5G commercial deployment and adoption by enterprises.

Recent news of ministry of telecommunications :

PLI scheme for telecom sector

• The Government has notified Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme on 24.02.2021 to promote Telecom and Networking Products manufacturing in India within overall financial outlay of Rs.12,195 Crore over 5 years.
• The Scheme Guidelines has following provisions for MSME Category:

1. The Scheme stipulates a minimum investment threshold of Rs. 10 Crore for MSME and Rs. 100 Crore for non MSME applicants.
2. For MSME category, there is financial allocation of Rs. 1,000 Crore out of Rs. 12,195 Crores over a period of 5 years.
3. Higher incentives are provided for MSMEs as compared to NON MSMEs in first 3 years.

• Total 31 applicants have been approved under the Scheme, out of which 16 are MSME, 8 Non- MSME (Domestic) and 7 Non-MSME (Global).
• The projected investment proposed in the telecom Sector under the PLI Telecom Scheme is Rs. 3,344.90 crores.
• The financial outlay reserved for this scheme over the scheme period is Rs. 12,195 crores.
• 31 Companies have been selected under the PLI Scheme for manufacturing of telecom and networking products in India are detailed at Annexure.
• To reduce dependence on other countries for importing telecom and networking products, the Government has taken steps like imposition of basic custom duty (ranging from 10-20%) on certain identified telecom products and notified Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order on 29.08.2018.

Key information :

• Union minister of communication – Ashwini Vaishnaw.
• Minister of state – Devusinh Chauhan
• Department of telecommunications (chairperson) – K. Rajaraman