Promise of level playing field in the AI age

It's that time of the year when looking back comes naturally. Besides the many electoral victories and setbacks as well as geopolitical disruptions with far-reaching implications, the following list captures a slice of India in the year that would soon be gone - against a setting of intense competition and the promise of a level playing field.

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

Among business trends, quick commerce has to be a chartbuster for 2024. Started by smaller startups such as Zepto with 20-something founders and by offshoots of food-delivery players like Swiggy and Zomato, qcom is being experimented by the bigger companies like Amazon and Flipkart (owned by Walmart). In a unique role reversal, the smaller firms are forcing the big ones to change their business model, quick and fast.

Next, spectrum for satellite communication (satcom) has been a contentious issue through the year, with lobbies being formed for and against auction of airwaves. Those seeking the auction route (a challenging proposition as international case studies and experiments have shown in satcom) have argued that bidding in satcom would ensure a level playing field with mobile telephony. Indian telecom administrators should make satcom take off at the earliest without getting distracted by any lobby. A recent reply in Parliament by the telecom minister suggests that the level playing field will be ensured while administratively allocating spectrum to satcom players. At the heart of the issue is the Supreme Court judgement of February 2012, upholding auction as the preferred mode of allocating scarce public resources like telecom spectrum. While the court has not reviewed the judgement, the government believes that laws governing satcom in the Telecom Bill allow administrative allocation of airwaves. Amid the debate on the level playing field, satcom is expected to usher in another level of connectivity in the remotest hinterland.