MediaTek chips to drive India's 5G, IoT dream: MD Anku Jain

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SME Times News Bureau | 02 Mar, 2021
As the government renews thrust on the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to promote domestic manufacturing, MediaTek, which is the world's fourth-largest fabless semiconductor company, on Friday said the scheme will provide a much-needed impetus to the semiconductor manufacturing sector which currently faces several issues with a lack of funds, and the company is in a position to further strengthen its foothold in the country.

The Taiwanese giant is working closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like realme, Xiaomi and OPPO, among others, to cater to the Indian market.

According to Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, manufacturing is a capital-intensive sector that demands huge manpower as well.

"Thus, investing in manufacturing is not a viable option for most companies. By offering schemes like PLIs, REITs (real estate investment trusts) and InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts), the government has stepped into this realm, thus encouraging more players to enter the field," Jain told IANS in an interview.

"These initiatives, along with the focus on technology education and skill development, further underscores the government's commitment. With FDI rules relaxed than ever, FDI inflow is likely to soar for manufacturing," he added.

According to him, the smart device ecosystem in India is set to explode in the coming years driven by the growth of IoT (Internet of Things) and 5G.

"It is likely that with 5G and WiFi 6, Indian households will soon be capable of connecting up to 50 devices through their home network," Jain mentioned.

By the end of this year, India is expected to join the select club of countries like the US, Canada, the UK and many European Union nations where 5G technology has already been launched.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under the Communications Ministry, in a detailed note submitted to a parliamentary committee recently, held that "the specific time frame" for the rolling out of 5G technology in India is "by the end of 2021".

According to Jain, considering the growing demand from OEMs for chipsets that deliver performance and energy efficiency, MediaTek has come up with a wide range of products suitable for the connected devices ecosystem.

"The latest being the MediaTek Dimensity series of SoCs, designed to deliver cutting-edge performance to 5G smartphones. Key characteristics of the SoC include the UltraSave power-saver technology, dual 5G SIM capabilities with 2CC Carrier Aggregation, AI and multimedia enhancements, and more," Jain told IANS.

The India market holds great opportunities for technology adoption across the smartphone segment along with intelligent devices like digital smart TV, Blu-ray and DVD, wireless routers, wearables, voice-assisted devices, AIoT and automotive products, enabling unrivalled communications experience across multiple channels.

"With the current PLI scheme announced as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, MediaTek is in a position to further strengthen its foothold in India," Jain emphasised.

Electronics is a prime focus area for manufacturing under the PLI scheme.

"We collaborate with leading industry players to develop products and solutions. This includes players like VVDN Technologies, to design, develop, and manufacture innovative and new-age Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) solutions, including camera solutions, home automation solutions, and voice assistant devices/smart speakers," he informed.

The MediaTek India head said that going forward, the company will build on more collaborations with them to develop innovative solutions to address the needs of society.

"We are in the process of designing a new range of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) solutions for home and office use. They include camera solutions, home automation solutions and smart speakers," Jain said.

Anticipating the wider adoption of 5G by late next year, MediaTek plans to increase the capacity of the production of the chipset solutions dedicated to these applications.

"Spectrum availability and supporting infrastructure like fibre networks are integral for the launch of 5G in India. Once the 5G spectrum auction is launched, it will catch momentum in India," he added.