Banks need to upgrade their PoS as 2G phases out: Telecom department

Hyderabad: In the wake of 2G spectrum and services being phased out, banks need to upgrade their Point of Sale (POS) machines to advanced technologies such as 3G and 4G, said a senior official of department of telecommunications Friday here.

"One of the things that the banking sector uses is the POS, which right now is 2G enabled. In a couple of years, there will be no 2G in this country. There will only be 3G, 4G and beyond. Are we getting ready for the (upgrade of) POS as the 2G is moving out? We would(other wise) have a challenge of financial inclusion," Amit Yadav, joint secretary Department of Telecommunications said.

He formally launched "5G Use Cases Lab for the Banking and Financial Sector in India" by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technologies (IDRBT).

On the infrastructure for mobile services, he said the number of mobile towers in the country have gone up to over five lakhs during the past three years from less than two lakh and Base Stations (BTS) have increased to over 20 lakh from the earlier six lakh.

He said the Departments of Telecomm, Information Technology and Science and Technology teamed up and submitted a report to the Centre on 5G Roadmap for India.

The IDRBT Friday unveiled a White Paper on "5G Applications for Banking and Financial Services".