5G and beyond: Steering India toward a connected future

India, the world’s second-largest telecommunications market, has witnessed unprecedented growth in the last 25 years driven by groundbreaking government initiatives and the unwavering commitment of theindustry toward unlocking the true potential of telecom in India. Together, the government and industry have been working tirelessly to connect over 1 billion people in the country while finding solutions to critical problems that come in the way of creating a Digital India. Starting from the GSM/2G era, we are now at the brink of 5G–a technology that has the promise of changing lives like never before–and we are just getting started!

The convergence and consolidation in the Indian telecom industry has further accelerated the growth of new-age technologies while blurring the boundaries between connectivity, content and digital experiences. In a couple of years from now, we can expect a well-structured ecosystem to emerge around these services wherein telecom will be the main powerhouse supporting a number of use cases. In India, we will witness a stronger collaboration between new-age technology startups, telecom service providers, telecom equipment makers and content providers to serve the extraordinary demands of their customers by the means of innovation and disruption.

Our NDCP-2018 (National Digital Communication Policy) goals of 50Mbps broadband for all and over 50 percent fixed broadband users can be achieved with complementing existing 4G networks with 5G. The role of 5G will only become more critical in India as we move forward, owing to its potential of addressing a number of challenges in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, energy, automotive among others. 5G has a host of use cases to serve in India from a geographical, population and economic standpoint. Therefore, as an industry we would need to fast-track our efforts toward making this technology a reality in India, because the sooner we invest into the market opportunity, the greater benefits we are likely to reap. The snowball effect of 5G will transform every aspect of our lives and there is no better time than now to tap into this momentum.

Today, Nokia is at the heart of the 5G revolution as we are rolling out 5G for customers around the world: in the US, Korea, Middle East, Japan and even in Europe, deployments have started. Our leadership in technology development and standardization of 5G can be well reflected through our 85 commercial 5G contracts and over 3000 5G patents declaration. In India we are working with our trusted partners to enhance the capabilities of existing networks while laying the foundation for 5G. Our 5G-ready solutions are being deployed country-wide which will improve the capacity and coverage of the networks as we prepare for the 5G era.

Even though India is in a preparatory phase before the commercial launch of 5G, the industry is gearing up at a faster pace than ever for the wider adoption of 5G. Meanwhile, Nokia is working toward smoothening the transition from 4G to the next generation 5G band, for both its existing and new customers. We keep renewing and strengthening our commitment to India by investing in the country’s future, strategically engaging in meaningful partnerships and by leading technological advancement to bring India at par with the world.

Today, Nokia is also at the forefront of the technologies that will power the fourth industrial revolution. Our state-of-the- art Chennai factory leverages Industry 4.0 solutions such as Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), connected Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, and Internet of Things to enhance operations and increase productivity. Working together with telecom service providers, we are demonstrating the ability to enable automation across industries, showing how it can be replicated in sectors such as oil and gas, mining, public safety and disaster management. We have deployed >200 Industry 4.0 networks around the world spread across all major verticals and regions.

Therefore, it will be fair to say that India is staring at the opportunity of extraordinary economic growth in the coming future, driven by 5G and related services. With this vision, Nokia is striving to connect the unconnected population of India by offering technology and solutions which will power the networks of tomorrow. We will continue to contribute significantly toward India’s digital transformation journey as leaders in the development and deployment of 5G networks.