India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2019 starts on a grand scale at Aero City, New Delhi today and will conclude on 16th October, 2019 (Wednesday). The grand opening of the three day-long event took place in the august presence of Chief Guest Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology; Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd; Jay Chen, CEO – Huawei India; Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO – Red Hat; Anshu Prakash, Secretary, DoT India; and Nunzio Mirtillo, Senior Vice President for South East Asia Oceania and India - Ericsson.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the gathering through a video call.

The IT Minister highlighted India’s digital strengths and vision of PM Narendra Modi on leveraging technologies like AI for inclusive development and transformation, while also hinting at the fact that the 5G spectrum auctions will be held in the current fiscal year.

This is the third edition of the mega-event and is expected to be attended by over 100,000 people from 40 participating countries, 300+ exhibitors and 250+ speakers in the coming three days. IMC 2019 is hosting international brands, CXOs, world leaders, delegates, media persons and guests from all over the world.

IMC is the largest digital technologies forum in India and South Asia, consisting of a three-day international conference and a mega technology exhibition. The event has been compared to Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, and is envisioned to be the "leading platform for India's start-up and technology ecosystem." Within the telecommunications and technology industry, IMC is already known as the "largest digital technology forum in South East Asia.”

On this special occasion, VARINDIA and IMC are bringing out a White Book on “Building Thrust On Newer Technologies”, which is the right testimonial to understand on how enterprises are getting ready for the newer technologies. The book that carries the Technology Best Practices of 100+ CIOs from across segments and industries will be launched on 16th October, Wednesday.

The mega-event is organised jointly by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India.

Highlights from the 1st day

KPMG in India in association with IMC and COAI launched a report on the TMT sector titled ‘Imagine a new connected world: Intelligent, Immersive, Inventive.’ at the India Mobile Congress 2019. The report takes a deep dive into the digital ecosystem enabled through 5G, blockchain technology, IoT , AI, cognitive computing, machine learning and AR/VR to name a few .

Huawei at the IMC 2019 demonstrated the potential power of a 5G enabled future with live 5G use-case applications. Huawei along with key partners showcased a variety of 5G-enabled applications not just in the telecommunications sector but beyond in vertical industries, with new applications in 5G + safe city, 5G + smart city, 5G + virtual reality (VR), 5G + airport (boarding gate) and 5G + education (smart classroom).

OnePlus collaborated with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and Ericsson to showcase the power of the much anticipated 5G technology at IMC. Offering real-time user experience opportunity at the event, the premium smartphone brand highlights its 5G developments through its latest OnePlus 7 Pro 5G smartphones displayed at Qualcomm Technologies’ booth.

Ericsson and Airtel enabled a 5G powered ‘Connected Music’ performance during the inauguration of IMC 2019. The demonstration involved connecting two parts of a musical performance using a live 5G network and presenting it as one, for live audiences at both locations. One half of the performance had the singer and music composer, Siddharth Shankar Mahadevan perform ‘Jai Ho’ from the film ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’, whilst a Swedish band played at the Ericsson booth, about 100 meters away.

Bharti Airtel showcased a range of exciting digital solutions for businesses and consumers at IMC 2019. Airtel demonstrated a wide range of use cases and applications for a world on connected things that leverage 5G and pre-5G network technologies.

HONOR unveiled the "HONOR Vision" smart screen at IMC today. Positioned as the future of television, HONOR Vision features the “Honghu 818” intelligent display chipset by HiSilicon along with AI Camera NPU Chipset and a flagship level WiFi Chipset. Taking an innovative approach to its development, HONOR has equipped HONOR Vision with a smart AI enabled pop-up camera, which enables NPU capability for face recognition, bringing powerful functions and a superior experience for users.  HONOR Vision is also the world's first smart screen to carry Huawei's self-developed Harmony OS.