India
12
www.criticalcomms.com January 2020
telephone and analogue network.
Elsewhere, Delhi uses TETRA to
allow the different public safety
agencies to communicate on an
interoperable system. However, the
technology initially faltered on the
underground stretch of the Delhi
metro, with repeaters later installed to
boost the signals.
The energy sector and
drone uptake
The Indian oil sector will need
advanced voice and data service
for exploration, production,
pipeline, refinery and other related
fields to ensure that frontline
workers and the control centre are
adequately connected.
LMR manufacturers offer a
variety of devices aimed at achieving
this, including TETRA and DMR
intrinsically safe handheld terminals,
multi-mode radios supporting DMR
or TETRA and LTE, and PTT over
Cellular (PoC) devices.
Communication needs are
changing further in the sector as the
use of drones transforms the way in
which inspections and maintenance
of well sites, pipelines, storage tanks
and offshore platforms are carried
out. Technology used at every stage of
production – from rapid and precise
surveys to inspection of hard-toaccess
locations – can save time
and money.
Drones can be operated at oil
rigs, around flare stacks and along
pipeline routes to detect leaks or
gas emissions, spills, corrosion and
heat spots. They remove the
necessity of human intervention,
enhancing safety.
The industry value of UAVs in
India is expected to reach $886m
by 2021, but the Ministry of Civil
Aviation only recently made it
legal to fly commercial drones. The
government is now actively working
towards legalising ‘beyond visual
line of sight’ (BVLOS) missions and
drone deliveries, as well as exploring
solutions for improving airspace
safety and management.
Drones can be used to survey and
map a whole site, across hundreds of
acres, within days (rather than the
weeks or months required using the
older methods) thanks to multisatellite
linking GPS. IdeaForge
drones now on sale across India
feature built-in connection and
process fail-safes that ensure a high
level of GPS connectivity at all
times. Visuals are beamed live to the
Ground Control Station (GCS) for
quick-fire analysis and corresponding
adaptations as necessary.
In fact, the performance of the
latest drone models is so impressive
that it has attracted the attention of
other sectors. From 2018, Indian
Railways has used drone-mounted
cameras to monitor rescue operations
and carry out track inspection,
traffic management and
infrastructure projects – starting
with the West Central Railways
(WCR) headquarters in Jabalpur,
Madhya Pradesh.
Its IdeaForge Netra, a lightweight
quad-copter that flies autonomously
without direct user input, is also used
by paramilitary agencies such as the
Border Security Force and Central
Reserve Police Force.
The city of Thane police use drones
to control crowds, while Nagpur
police have used drones via Wi-Fienabled
surveillance vans near the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Smart cities
Back in 2015, the Indian government
made a commitment to invest in 100
‘smart cities’ over five years. Although
delays have led to the project missing
its original deadline, which has
now been extended to 2023, the
government has launched more than
5,000 projects totalling 2,000 billion
rupees (approximately $29bn) under
the Smart Cities Mission.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the minister
of state for housing and urban affairs,
claims that 15 integrated command
and control centres are already
operational. More than 700 of the
projects have now been completed.
Progress in some areas such as
the Internet of Things (IoT) has
been aided by the development
of low-power wide-area network
(LPWAN) IoT technologies including
the partially proprietary Sigfox and
LoRaWAN standards and the more
recent 3GPP 4G NB-IoT and LTE-M
cellular standards.
These LPWAN protocols allow
low-powered devices to communicate
over long-range wireless, involving
long-life batteries for 10 or more
years, distances of many miles and
rural locations. Some offer satellite
gateways for coverage over the ocean
or for terrestrial areas not covered by
mobile network operators.
Vipin Tyagi, executive director
and chairman at the Centre
for Development of Telematics
(C-DOT), and a member of the
government’s 5G steering committee,
has praised Wi-Fi as an “unsung
hero” and pointed out that despite
the fanfare around upcoming
technologies, Indian agencies
already have access to a technology
that provides 3Gbps. He lauds the
use of Wi-Fi with LoRaWAN and
favours a hybrid approach that
provides connectivity to both via a
single gateway.
Operators are rolling out LPWANbased
networks to meet IoT
connectivity demand for the second
phase, dubbed Smart City Mission
2.0, which aims to cover 4,000 smart
villages and towns with services
such as smart water metering, smart
agriculture and smart parking.
Reliance Industries has revealed
plans for a commercial launch of
Smart City Mission 2.0 aims to cover
4,000 smart villages and towns
with smart water metering, smart
agriculture and smart parking
New technology
and improved
communications
are helping the
police to ease
traffic congestion
and tackle illegal
parking
Adobe Stock/suman
/www.criticalcomms.com