India Accelerates 5G/6G Innovation, Cracks Down on Telecom Fraud
- 110 projects related to 5G and 6G have been funded under the TTDF scheme to boost telecom R&D in India.
- Projects involve collaboration among academia, startups, MSMEs, and industry, with durations ranging from 1 to 5 years.
- DoT launches FRI to detect high-risk mobile numbers; 10.02 lakh accounts frozen based on alerts to curb financial fraud.
The Indian government has approved 110 projects worth Rs 304.70 crore under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme, aimed at accelerating innovation in 5G and 6G technologies. The information was shared in Parliament on Wednesday by Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development.
Launched on October 1, 2022, the TTDF scheme supports Research and Development (R&D) initiatives in telecom, encouraging collaboration among academia, start-ups, MSMEs, research institutions, and industry players. The duration of the approved projects ranges from one to five years, and most are currently in the early development stages.
The scheme is expected to significantly boost India’s position in next-generation telecom technologies by funding diverse domain-specific projects led by both public and private institutions.
In parallel with advancing telecom innovation, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also actively addressing cybersecurity and financial fraud concerns. As informed in the Lok Sabha, DoT has developed a Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) a tool that evaluates and classifies mobile numbers as Medium, High, or Very High risk for financial fraud.
Accessible via the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), FRI enables key financial stakeholders such as banks, NBFCs, and UPI service providers to adopt real-time response protocols, including transaction alerts, delays, or even rejections, for numbers flagged as high risk.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued advisories urging financial entities to integrate FRI into their systems. Based on Action Taken Reports (ATRs), 34 banks and UPI providers have so far frozen 10.02 lakh bank accounts and payment wallets, while imposing debit/credit restrictions on 3.05 lakh accounts to prevent fraud.
The government’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) continues to play a pivotal role in curbing the misuse of telecom resources for cybercrime and financial fraud.
