When the new government assumes office, it will have a plethora of issues to handle on a priority basis. Spectrum allocation for 5G figures prominently in the list, says Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary and Chairman of the Telecom Commission. Excerpts:
Will the U.S. ban on Huawei delay global roll-out of 5G?
I don’t believe it will. The U.S. is already well advanced in terms of 5G readiness, and so are countries like Japan, Korea and Sweden which are leading the 5G rollout. Each country, including India, will, of course, have to evaluate and assess what is required from their own security perspective and plan their roadmaps accordingly.
Will the spectrum allocation for 5G be a priority topic for the new government?
Yes, spectrum allocation is an important area for the government to enable new technologies such as 5G, which are estimated to have significant positive impact on cross-cutting industry verticals and services. Considering the positioning of 5G as a general purpose technology (GPT), it is indeed an immediate priority to provide necessary enabling environment, including spectrum, to enable early adoption of new technologies to drive the ‘digital agenda’ in the country.
Can India meet its own 2020 roll-out deadline for 5G?
India has been a prudent and cautious market.
The 3G and 4G standards entered India as matured technologies. Telecom service providers in the country are closely watching the 5G rollout preparedness in global markets.
They are also assessing the demand-pull factors in terms of usage cases. The operators are giving priority for technology trials in partnership with OEMs to enable them to learn network planning and usage-case business models.
What could be the immediate 5G-related market opportunities?
It is estimated that the immediate opportunity would be for roll-out of eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) capability to deliver high-speed services as standards for other capabilities such as uRLLC (ultra-reliable low latency communication), MMTC (massive machine type communication) that are likely to be ready only by the end of 2020.
There will be a significant learning on 5G rollout and technology aspects by 2020. Current offerings of OEMs on 5G are only candidate technologies as 5G standards are yet to get finalised for all capabilities.
Does India have the right ecosystem and pricing yet for 5G roll-out?
We are in a much better position than we were during 4G introduction in terms of data appetite, usage of apps, ICT literacy, broadband penetration etc.
The 5G high level task force (HLTF) has been constituted to strengthen the digital communication ecosystem in the country. Despite the fact that the telecom network deployment is capital-intensive in nature, the Indian market has always demonstrated cost leadership.
By very nature of the need to provide ubiquitous connectivity in a telecom network, the aim is always to make the subscriber base as large as possible. India’s large market is a key factor that will drive 5G.
What kind of newer digital opportunities will 5G bring?
From the forecasts and successful trials abroad, 5G technology is proclaimed to have the potential of a general purpose technology considering its high throughput, near real-time and high quality services.
Health, education, industrial automation, transportation, assisted-driving, security and surveillance, consumer experience and entertainment are quoted as potential sectors for 5G.
New kinds of services, businesses, new streams of revenues are projected for both operators and enterprises in the years to come as per market reports.
Industry experts and telcos such as Vodafone Idea argue that India has a serious shortage of capex and therefore, it should postpone 5G roll-out for some years. What are your views?
Yes, Vodafone-Idea has a view on its readiness on 5G roll-out. Operators may be assessing the demand for capital investment in light of 5G roll-outs announced in other countries and also taking note of the plans of other operators in the market.
New technology roll-out in a telecom market is contagious and I expect the launch by one player will see others roll it out as well.
As you may see, the gap in adoption from generation to generation, that is, 2G to 3G and 3G to 4G has been decreasing and it is a matter of time before we start seeing 5G networks in the country.
The 5G HLTF’s objective is to enable the process and the ecosystem in the country.
