“The 5G, the next big thing in Indian telecom, is not just about communications. If 4G was for data, 5G would be for device connectivity. The superfast 5G network is expected to create a network of connected devices, enabling millions of applications capable of transforming every sector and every minute event happening across the country,” according to Malik.
Times are changing at a pace and intensity never imagined before. The COVID -19 pandemic has turned the world order upside down, creating uncertainties across all segments of society. Turning the pages of history, we see that a similar instance occurred in the form of the Spanish Flu in 1920, which affected almost one-third of the entire population with around 50 million casualties.
During that time, there was little hope in terms of connecting each other and managing day-to-day activities. People had no option but to stay indoors with the minimum resources available to them. A century later, as the entire world fights back the COVID -19 pandemic, we see how communications technologies have taken over some of the key roles in crisis management and helped the societies confront the crisis with utmost diligence and planning.
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) has emerged as the backbone to help humanity deal with any crisis, not just the epidemic but hurricane, earthquake, flood or any manmade disasters. We also see how ICT enables Connected Societies, which are progressing faster, building sustainable communities through active participation of the citizens. As per the UN estimates, digital technologies have reached around 50 percent of the developing world’s population in only two decades and are transforming societies. By enhancing connectivity, financial inclusion, access to trade, and public services, technology can be a great equalizer, UN report further said.
Come India, the happening place of telecom, where over 760 million smartphone users and nearly 700 million Internet users engage with their peers over the communications network. Also over 63 million SMBs conduct businesses contributing a significant share to the country’s GDP and where nearly 1.38 billion population, including those in the remote villages, leverage the nation’s digital infrastructure to conduct day-to-day transactions. It is not an exaggeration to state that all these changes happened over the past 2-3 decades, to be precise since 1995 when the country’s telecom infrastructure was opened to private players for the launch of 2G services.
The Indian telecom industry has come a long way since then, tackling the challenges one after another. The journey was tough for the telecom operators in India as they had to deal with the emerging technology trends while also seeking investments to build networks across diverse telecom circles. Operators in India are among those with the lowest ARPU, but surprisingly the ones offering the lowest data tariffs in the world. The major factor behind this was the hyper-competition prevailing in the market since 2016 when a major consolidation impacted the industry with Reliance Jio emerging as the main player and Vodafone and Idea decided to merge into a single entity. Now with three major private players and two public telcos, the Indian telecom industry is preparing for the next round of communication revolution around 5G.
Undoubtedly, 4G/LTE played a major role in enabling ubiquitous data connectivity in India. In fact, the latest Nokia Mobile Broadband India Traffic Index (MBIT) 2021 has revealed that India’s 4G device base surpassed 607 million units in 2020, reaching a penetration level of 77%, and 4G alone constituted nearly 99% of the total data traffic consumed across the country. Further, the report reveals that the average monthly data usage per user reached 13.5GB in December 2020, growing 20% on-year as mobile video consumption increased.
As India nears saturation in 4G connections, the industry is eagerly waiting for the launch of 5G. Though the pandemic created uncertainty over the 5G spectrum allocation, current developments indicate that the government is keen to auction the 5G spectrum in the near future. The recent go-ahead for 5G trials is a breather to the industry that has been waiting for the opportunity for long.
The 5G, the next big thing in Indian telecom, is not just about communications. If 4G was for data, 5G would be for device connectivity. The superfast 5G network is expected to create a network of connected devices, enabling millions of applications capable of transforming every sector and every minute event happening across the country.
The time is appropriate for the launch of 5G in India for two reasons. Firstly, the pandemic has induced connectivity demands to an all-time high as citizens require high-speed data connectivity to fulfill their work/study needs. As the current trend is expected to continue creating pressure on the existing infrastructure, 5G networks will be crucial to add to these needs. Thus we expect 5G will create momentum around enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) that will accelerate the use of high-definition video, augmented and virtual reality, and real-time gaming. With many OTT providers leveraging Edge computing, users will also benefit from streaming movies, shows, and videos faster than ever.
Smart factories equipped with robots and drones will improve efficiency across all processes and reduce costs. The low-latent, high-speed 5G network can enable smart cities across India and address the many challenges in infrastructure management, such as traffic monitoring, energy management, security and surveillance, law enforcement, and more. 5G can also transform the healthcare segment by enabling facilities like telemedicine, robots-assisted remote surgeries, and remote patient monitoring. As 5G gains popularity, more use cases will evolve to address the varied needs of the society.
A major factor favoring 5G in India is the focus on local manufacturing. Of late, the government has introduced several schemes to encourage indigenous players. The production linked scheme (PLI) is expected to give an impetus to local manufacturing of all products, including smartphones and other devices, telecom gears, and components. The scheme is expected to not only make the local industries self-reliant but will also boost the country’s export capabilities, generate employment and contribute to the nation’s exchequer.
As we stand today in the midst of the crisis brought by the pandemic, we understand how important telecom networks are, how deep they can penetrate into the lives of the people and the economy of the nation.
ITU, in its High-Level Political Forum 2019 highlighted, “And because inequality anywhere is a threat to equality everywhere, ITU commends the countries who used ICTs this year to promote women’s empowerment, youth, people with disabilities, digital financial inclusion, SMEs and entrepreneurship, and connecting the rural communities.” In India, we have seen how ICT has enabled employment, entrepreneurship, rural education, public infrastructure, healthcare, smart cities and every industrial segment to deliver better results faster. The transformation has just begun; more is on way.
https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/world-telecom-day-2021-accelerating-digital-transformation-in-challenging-times/82707074
