On October 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G mobile services in the country at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. With this launch, India has joined a privileged league of 70 countries with 5G mobile services.

Bharti Airtel launched 5G services at the IMC and became the first telecom company in the country to rollout out the advanced facility. Bharti Airtel’s 5G services will initially be available in eight cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi. The telecom company has said that will expand its 5G network across urban India by 2023.

“We need to install some equipment on mobile towers for 5G service. We are doing it gradually. As of today, the service will be available in the area close to towers where the equipment has been installed,” Bharti Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Singh Sekhon has said.

Days later, coinciding with Deepavali, Reliance Jio (RJio) unveiled its 5G facility across the four metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has revealed that RJio will bring 5G services to all Indians by December 2023.

RJio has committed a total investment of over Rs 2,00,000 crore to build a pan-India 5G network. Unlike other operators, RJio`s 5G network will be standalone with zero dependency on 4G network. Experts indicate that RJio’s standalone 5G architecture will enable the largest and best mix of spectrum and help offer an unparalleled combination of coverage, capacity, quality and affordability.

Vodafone Idea, the country’s third-largest mobile, has disclosed that it will roll out its 5G sevices soon. However, the telecom has not specified a launch date or a coverage timeline.

Unlike the past mobile spectrum auctions, the 5G auctions, which had concluded in August, were relatively successful, having mopped up record Rs 1,50,000 crore of bids. The auction had witnessed sale of 51,236 mhz, accounting for 71 per cent of the 72,098 mhz offered across 10 bands. RJio had cornered nearly half of all the airwaves sold with a Rs 88,078-crore bid. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea had bought spectrum worth Rs 43,084 crore and Rs 18,799 crore respectively.

5G’s Top Gains

- Better and clear coverage of mobile services

- Wide coverage in remote areas across the country

- Seamless and uninterrupted data consumption

- Advanced gaming apps and a number of other immersive activities

- A vital role in making India a $5-trillion economy

- Facilitating further penetration of AI and ML

- AR and VR set to transform education, health, agriculture, logistics, manufacturing and all other sectors

- A boost to digital wallets, smart homes and better connected lifestyle

Big impact

5G is set to provide a transformational experience for mobile phone users. 5G offers better coverage and clarity with advanced technology and highly-reliable communication system. A higher internet speed of around 10 gbps (gigabytes per second) – compared with 100 mbps (megabytes per second) of 4G – and latency as low as 1 millisecond (ms) – time taken by a device to send data and get response – will offer customers seamless and uninterrupted data consumption. With a 5G facility, customers can watch 4K videos on their phones. They will also be able to experience augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), use advanced mobile gaming apps and indulge in a number of other immersive activities and new applications.

The new technology will provide seamless coverage in remote areas across the country. It will increase efficiency of energy, spectrum and network. “The government is investing $30 billion (around Rs 2,50,000 crore) in 4G, 5G and a robust digital infrastructure in rural India to ensure last-mile network accessibility for 4G and 5G in every village across the country and build a robust digital infrastructure in the rural areas,” Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.

5G services are expected to play a major role in achieving the economic goal of making India a $5-trillion economy. According to experts, 5G will have a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion by 2035 and can deliver an additional GDP of $150 billion for the country between 2025 and 2040.

“Telecom is a gateway of Digital India. Telecom is the root of all digital services that we are seeing in our modern life. 5G services will bring fundamental change in several sectors – education, health, agriculture, logistics and banking. It will create new opportunities,” Mr Vaishnaw adds.

The new generation of airwaves have the potential of connecting billions of devices and sharing information in real time. It will also help in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as scientists will be able to program more data into systems. By using VR, AR, Internet of Things (IoT) and other modern technologies, 5G can enable end-to-end effects on multiple sectors, such as healthcare, agriculture, education, disaster management and so on.

New business models designed around 5G can facilitate growth across diverse sectors and have a multiplier effect on the economy. The new technologies can spur advanced digital wallets, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, smart homes and appliances for better connected lifestyle.

“Students from different backgrounds would be able to participate in classes in real time. Agriculture can have the entire value chain, from precision farming, smart irrigation, improved soil and crop monitoring, to livestock management. In the energy sector, smart grids and smart metering can be supported,” points out Pranav Srivastava, a partner of law firm Phoenix Legal.

There can be a higher degree of adoption of Industrial Revolution 4.0, driven by 5G technology. The new class of spectrum can connect sensors and devices of various types of machines and automate various processes of manufacturing. “I often say that 5G is like the last piece of the Industry 4.0 jigsaw puzzle that will spearhead the next wave of digital disruption, taking us a step closer to realising our dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and technological supremacy,” notes Tech Mahindra President (Communications, Media and Entertainment Business) and CEO (Network Services) Manish Vyas.

The next-generation of 5G technologies will have an impact on how goods are produced and distributed across supply chains. Application of the new processes will reduce costs, lower down time, facilitate minimum wastage and improve productivity. 5G is expected to bring down the cost of logistics from 14 to 5 per cent.

The new set of technologies has the potential to transform the transport and mobility sector. Using 5G, a network of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations can be established to help maximise the cost-effectiveness of the EV ecosystem. The 5G network will also aid working from a remote location more effectively. 5G-powered smart buildings can help provide more comfortable working environment for employees, boosting productivity along with reducing costs for employers.

Perhaps one of the biggest gainers from 5G would be the education sector. Schooling at primary and secondary levels, especially in remote, rural areas, will see drastic improvement with better connectivity as it will allow rapid interactivity and connectivity with multiple devices.

5G services will have a big impact in the safety and surveillance sector. The new technologies and their applications will enable remote control over disaster-hit areas and live 4K feed from HD cameras installed in public spaces. It can also help in minimising the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations, such as deep mines and offshore activities, among others.

Hospitals can leverage 5G services to track medical devices and patient beds to trigger actions automatically. These services can accelerate patient handovers, remote robot-assisted surgeries and other operations across the healthcare sector.

Major Interruptions

- Likely higher tariffs and costly 5G-compliant handsets

- A game-changing, Rs-10,000 5G handset still at least a year away

- A severe shortage of semiconductor chips further complicating matters

- Weakening rupee and rising component costs making handsets costlier

- Concerns over roaring inflation and recession seriously dampening consumer spending

- A low level of fibre deployment leading to higher expenditure on 5G infrastructure

Hurdles ahead

India has entered the world of 5G and is set to reap its benefits. However, the country will have to overcome a few hurdles before the gains of 5G begin accruing. One of the biggest challenges in the way of 5G technology gaining popularity and widespread adoption is affordability.

For now, both Bharti Airtel and RJio have not put out separate tariffs for 5G services, keeping them on a par with 4G services. But as time goes by and volume of 5G users rises, the telecom operators may price them at a higher rate. Likely higher tariffs for 5G are not a major concern. The bigger worry is current cost of 5G-compliant handsets.  

The average selling price of 5G smartphones has escalated this year. A good, entry-level 5G smartphone costs anywhere between around Rs 14,000 and Rs 16,000. This price tag would dissuade a large number of people, who would otherwise be eager to use 5G services. A Rs-10,000 5G handset can be a game-changer that will expedite usage of 5G. However, a 5G handset at Rs 10,000 is at least a year away, point out analysts tracking the telecom sector.

Besides, a lot of developments in the past one year, especially after COVID-19, have been adding to the cost of high-end devices, including smartphones. A severe shortage of semiconductor chips has propelled prices of 5G handsets. Moreover, weakening of the rupee against the dollar and rising component costs have added to surging prices of smartphones. Add to it, concerns over roaring inflation and economic uncertainty amid fears of recession engulfing most parts of the world are seriously dampening consumer spending.

Meanwhile, a recent survey by Ookla – the US-based company that measures speed, access and other parameters of internet services – confirms the worst fears of analysts. The survey, conducted in India, reveals that perceived costs of 5G tariffs and 5G-capable phones are the primary reasons for people to stay away from adopting 5G services.

Infrastructure deployment is seen as another critical factor that may hamper speedy deployment of 5G services. Analysts estimate that the telecom industry would need about Rs 2,50,000 crore of investment in infrastructure in the next two years for a meaningful rollout of 5G services across the country. They point out that a low level of India’s fibre deployment is the main reason for the higher expenditure on infrastructure.

Huge potential

Despite some concerns, the long-term outlook for 5G services in the country is quite promising. India is the world’s second-largest mobile phone market, next only to China. Around 65 crore of the over 100 crore Indian mobile customers use smartphones. Analysts estimate that around 10 per cent of the creamy layer of 4G smartphone users may shift to 5G initially. This number too is quite large to begin with.    

Moreover, the number 5G users will considerably rise in future as the cost of 5G hardware decreases and technology and vendor ecosystem continue to mature. The potential for higher growth of smartphone users is very well assured, given that about 35 crore Indians are still using feature phones. As the cost of handsets and future tariffs comes down, a large part of the feature phone users may directly migrate to 5G services.

“The internet today represents a far more economically-valuable aspect of our lives than it was 10 years ago. Around 1.2 billion Indians are going to be using the internet in the next two years through 5G and BharatNet,” predicts Minister of State for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The minister’s prediction may easily materialise earlier than estimated, leading to a large number of 5G phones ringing aloud.