Jahnavi- Why do you think that India needs to focus on made-in-India IT products?
Gaurav- For a long time, India was primarily a consumer of IT products, while China began focusing on IT production and implementing “Make in China” solutions, approximately 20 years ago. As a result, China’s GDP is now five times larger than India’s. Additionally, in the event of any international issues or disputes, other countries tend to withdraw their IT support, which can lead to unauthorized access and exposure to confidential data. The fact is that a country can survive without weapons but not without technology, thus there shouldn’t be any compromise on that part. Therefore, India needs to focus on ‘Made-in-India’ in order to manufacture sustainable, qualitative and reliable IT products. This also goes with the Government’s vision of becoming a self-reliant economy and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has constituted a nine-member task force to make India a ‘product developer and manufacturing nation’. This is another step in the country’s efforts to position itself as an alternative to the likes of China and Vietnam.
Jahnavi- What according to you should the govt do to encourage the IT and Telecom Industry?
Gaurav- I feel that the government has already taken steps to address this issue through initiatives such as PLI and DCIS, among others. By providing funding and support to Indian IT and telecom companies to manufacture products domestically, it is likely that there will be a significant increase in exports within the next five years compared to the current numbers.
In addition to that, the telecom industry is seeking incentives in order to deploy indigenous equipment in their networks. Therefore, a ‘vocal for local’ approach should be adopted and stakeholders in the telecom industry should
be encouraged to buy equipment from local vendors, rather than global vendors. The Government should further encourage them by giving the flexibility to be able to purchase equipment from global vendors such as Nokia,
Ericsson, etc. (This is contradicting, as we are now going for localization and not globalization, so write something around those lines)
Jahnavi- What is the major aim behind Echelon Edge and BSNL tie-ups for 5G allocation?
Gaurav- Our major aim is to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas by ensuring that there is equal access to healthcare, education, and other essential services for every person through lag-free and high-quality networks.
Through this partnership, we are going to be a one-stop shop for enterprises when it comes to private network solutions.
Jahnavi- What are the challenges faced by Echelon Edge in general?
Gaurav- The telecom industry is highly capital-intensive, making it challenging for mid-sized companies to compete and grow in this market. Currently, large players globally dominate the industry, making it difficult for smaller
companies to establish themselves. However, there is a need to break this trend and create a more competitive environment. A few other challenges that we as a solution provider face include Operational Control, High Cost, and Security.
Jahnavi- What are the major points which focus on the growth of the business? How do you manage to form this growth plan for Echelon Edge in general?
Gaurav- We aim to dedicate more time in studying and understanding consumer needs and assessing the feasibility of technology solutions to meet those needs. Understanding today’s technology needs in several sectors, we look
forward to offering seamless captive private networks and Big Data Analytics. We have other solutions as well like NMS and Data Quipo for data analysis. We have recently rebranded Echelon Edge as software solution providers and
established ourselves as a CMMI Level 3 company. Our current focus is on tapping the immense potential offered by 5G internet in India for the growth of businesses and enterprises. We want to make the most of this opportunity
by providing seamless private network connectivity to our customers in several domains. (This looks like more focused on one solution let’s add something about latest technology or write something in general, as we have other
solutions as well like NMS, Data Quipo for data analysis)
Jahnavi- What is the major idea behind the company? How were you able to come up with the plan to build this organization?
Gaurav- We established ourselves as a hardware system integrator in 2011 and over the next ten years, we moved from enhancement to innovation, launching innovative products and IT solutions to mark our presence in the
industry. When we entered the market, major companies were the leading providers. Instead of pursuing contractual work, we focused more on providing innovative solutions to bring value to our customers and society as a whole.
