5G Technology For The Future

Buoyed by the exponential data uptake, government’s focus on digitization, and increasing trend of technology absorption across industries, India is at the cusp of a digital revolution, which has the potential to transform the socio-economic fabric of the country. This transformation will generate new growth avenues, boost manufacturing and agricultural productivity, and bring transparency to the entire governance ecosystem.

Add 5G to this already promising story, and we are talking about a technology, which has the capability to revolutionize the very nature of how people communicate, industries function, and governments govern.

5G will not only provide traditional voice and high-speed data services at much lower levels of latency, but it will also be a key enabler to adopt technologies such as IoT, AI, RPA, which are driving service innovation across not only telecom but other industry verticals. New business models are evolving in lieu of the need for connectivity and ability to provide differentiated services.

From an industry perspective, 5G will facilitate use cases across industries like automotive, media and entertainment, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and agriculture amongst others. Further, from a societal standpoint, 5G will aid in development of smart cities by being the key driver for services such as public safety, public utilities, and public transport.

While stakeholders plan for a commercial launch of 5G in line with the global launch; 5G deployments will not be indifferent to the challenges, which the Indian telecom sector faces. Bottlenecks such as low fiber penetration, delicate financial health of most telecom operators, limited equipment manufacturing capabilities, and lack of policy enforcement might hamper pan-India deployments.

It is in this context, the Confederation of Indian Industry took a lead role in organizing the sixth edition of the Digital India Telecom Convergence Summit on September 28, 2018 at New Delhi. Deloitte was the knowledge partner for the summit.

Comments from speakers at the event

“The launch of 5G services will enhance the possibilities of affordable telecom services across sectors, thereby paving the way to achieve the objectives set by the recently announced National Digital Communications Policy 2018.

The new policy is a fine document drafted with a visionary approach. From the industry point of view, it is the simplest and most straightforward vision put together. As 5G is the next-generation technology, it is going to be one of the prime factors in achieving the objectives set by the new telecom policy. To attain a successful implementation of the 5G network in India, there is a need for a huge infrastructure setup and the provisions to share them. Also, the spectrum fee should not be looked as a revenue generator by the government. Rather, the government should look at facilitating a smooth allocation of the spectrum so that affordable and effective 5G implementation can be achieved. It can look at a revenue share model to make up for the losses occurred during the spectrum auction, if any.”

Akhil Gupta
Vice Chairman,
Bharti Group and Executive Chairman,
Bharti Infratel

“5G will set the stage for the next major paradigm shift in wireless evolution. It would be designed not just to build on the past wireless generations, but to provide a flexible canvas for groundbreaking applications that are yet to be invented. The Indian telecom market ranks among the fastest growing industries in the country, and it is vital that we work with a collaborative approach with government, industry, and state to shape the future communication networks.”

Umang Das
Summit Chairman and Co-Chairman,
CII National Committee on Telecom and Broadband

“5G is not a mere technology upgrade, it is the catalyst that would further fuel the digital revolution that is underway in India; transforming industries and the society to benefit the Indian economy as well as make life better for our people.”

Sathish Gopalaiah
Partner and Head,
TMT Consulting,
Deloitte India

“5G will not be just a new mobile technology but will enable an entirely new array of use-cases and possibilities. Nokia with its end-to-end portfolio and delivery capabilities is well-positioned for the 5G era. We have been leading commercial deployment of 5G globally, both from the standardization and commercialization aspects. We are confident that India will be no different as we engage with and participate in various initiatives by the industry and the government toward the path to 5G.”

Randeep Raina
Chief Technology Officer, India Market,
Nokia