Expected to provide impetus to design and development of latest Wi-Fi devices
For long a need has been felt to bring together the academia and industry so as to bridge the gap between the skills and requirement. In a move to boost collaboration between these two, Z-Com India Pvt. Ltd with IIC, University of Delhi South Campus launched a project to design, develop and manufacture the latest carrier grade Wi-Fi devices in India. It was formally launched by the Taiwanese ambassador to India, Chung Kwang Tien. The unique collaborative project includes development of new technology frameworks, hands on training, short terms courses, Certification and IP creation in India. The initiative aims to provide a platform where industry, academia and community can work closely on a long term basis.
Indian Wi-Fi hotspot market is segmented based on component, software, services, end users and industry verticals. “The collaborative project with IIC – University of Delhi is a strategic alliance to not only make the current range of Wi-Fi components, software and services for ‘Make in India’ but also includes joint research and development of next generation products and solutions for the Wi-Fi hotspot market”, said Rajesh Kapoor, MD Z-COM Inc.
Make in India initiative, launched in 2014 by PM Modi, seeks to make India a global manufacturing hub, by encouraging both multinational as well as domestic companies to manufacture their products within the country. Z -COM Inc. has formed a Joint Venture with the leading technology company Cloudatix and a large Telecom Infrastructure Solution Provider – Frontline Group to manufacture the W-Fi devices in India under the “make in India” program.
Dr. Sanjay Sinha, Chairman, Frontline Group added, “The role of Wi-Fi has increasingly become the emphasis for unlocking and accelerating knowledge and technology based economies, as well as for enabling additional GDP growth. We plan to make our product which has ‘zero defect’ and ‘zero effect’ so that the manufacturing does not have an adverse effect on our environment”.
Under the aegis of Ministry of IT and Electronics, Electropreneur Park with the alliance of Delhi University is already contributing to the ESDM growth story of India. This is being achieved through creation of a holistic eco-system for encouraging R&D, innovation and Entrepreneurship in the ESDM sector.
“The Collaborative project with Z-COM and IIC is meant to create the entire technology eco-system and support processes of manufacturing for the Wi-Fi range of products meant for the Wi-Fi Hotspot market”, asserted Prof. P K Burma, Dean and Faculty of Interdisciplinary Sciences of University of Delhi South Campus.
The global Wi-Fi hotspot market was valued at $1,766 million in 2017, and is expected to reach $5,198 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 16.9% from 2017 to 2023. The major factors that will drive the market growth are increase in use of cell phones and smart devices, growth in adoption of Wi-Fi hotspots by Gram Panchayats, e-Governance, hospitality, retail, and education sector, and adoption of carrier Wi-Fi by the network operators for data traffic offload and community Wi-Fi. Sanjay Sharma, MD, Cloudatix, summed it up, “India needs over 80 lakh hotspots as against the availability of about 31,000 hotspots with a view to reach the global level of one Wi-Fi hotspot penetration for every 150 people.”
About Institute of Informatics & Communication (IIC), DU
Institute of Informatics & Communication (IIC), UDSC is a premier institution of University of Delhi at South Campus. IIC has been conducting research based industry oriented teaching and research programs with a perfect blend of electronics, Information technology, physics and telecommunications skills for work on the cutting-edge technologies in the wireless telecommunications industry.
About Z-COM Inc.
Z-COM, Inc., established in Science-Based Industrial Park of Hsinchu, Taiwan, is a leading solution provider and since its inception in 1995, has dedicated to research, design, development, and manufacturing of wireless data solutions for broadband wireless Internet access as well as various mobile data applications.