Mobile internet consumption in recent weeks indicates a sharp increase of 50 per cent to 60 per cent, proving the importance of connectivity in braving the pandemic
New Delhi: As Healthcare workers battle the Pandemic tirelessly, there are many sectors like the Telecom industry in the shadows that are aiding them by playing a crucial role in keeping the economy running and ensuring connectivity. Mobile internet consumption in recent weeks indicates a sharp increase of 50 per cent to 60 per cent, proving the importance of connectivity in braving the pandemic
According to reports, telecom companies in collaboration with their infrastructure partners have installed as many as 69,448 new mobile towers and invested as much as ₹ 9,000 crores in network infrastructure expansion over the last fifteen months; which evidences the growth in demand and consumption of communications services.
Even pre-pandemic, the telecom industry had been witnessing an increased interest in new technologies and applications like 5G, robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning. Experts believe that the future of job roles in the sector will be in these new technologies and employers should start migrating employees into these roles from their current positions. They hold that the growth of the telecom sector could have a cascading impact, subsequently driving employment across multiple sectors.
"The roll-out of 5G services and evolution of next-generation technologies in near future come with enhanced challenges related to the competence needs on the manpower front with the requirement of right and skilled manpower," Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Nokia India, said in a statement on Sunday. He further added, "As the industry ramps up its infrastructure and readies for future technologies, we need to invest in developing the right skills. The industry recognises this and is working towards it in many ways,"
Today, the telecom industry contributes 6.5 per cent to India's GDP and is responsible for almost four million jobs. They collectively serve over a billion users who have grown manifold in recent years due to the easier availability and varied options for mobile handsets and increased internet penetration in the country.
"Our industry is playing a critical role in providing connectivity to the billion-plus nation and our industry is not limited to the telecom services providers only but covers the entire ecosystem which includes around 6,000 companies in the telecom business today," said Arvind Bali, CEO, The Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC), in the statement.
"With the new ecosystem developing fast we are expanding our plans to upskill our manpower and believe that 3.6 lakh of additional manpower across a variety of job roles may be required for installation and maintenance of this infrastructure," he added.
This article contains inputs from IANS