5G Network and India
As the name suggests, 5G is the fifth-generation cellular network technology. It is
designed to improve network connections by addressing the legacy issues of speed,
latency and utility, which the earlier generations and the current generation of mobile
networks could not address. 5G is promised to deliver data speed at a rate 100 times
faster than 4G networks. Importantly, it is designed to transmit data almost instantly with
a network latency of less than 10ms. It will also have an enhanced throughput to handle
more simultaneous connections at a time than current-generation networks.
In India, network operators like Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, etc, have already
partnered with vendors like Ericsson, Huawei and Samsung for planned trials sometime
by the end of this year, before the service’s forecast commercial rollout in 2020.
According to the GSM Association, a trade body that represents the interests of mobile
network operators worldwide, the following developments have taken place in India on
the 5G front:
1. Bharti Airtel and Huawei have successfully conducted India’s first 5G network trial
under a test setup at Airtel’s network experience centre in Manesar, Gurgaon, achieving
a user throughput of more than 3 Gbps. Bharti Airtel has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Nokia and Ericsson to support the company in its
preparations for 5G rollout.
2. Vodafone Idea has also proposed 5G trials with multiple vendors, including Huawei
and Ericsson.
3. Samsung will conduct 5G field trials in New Delhi in 2019, and is working closely with
the DoT. The company is also likely to be one of Reliance Jio's partners for its 5G field
trials.
4. BSNL has signed an MoU with Ciena to conduct field trials with the goal of a
commercial launch by 2020. Ciena and BSNL intend to jointly evaluate fronthaul,
midhaul and backhaul transport-based use cases and scenarios to address resilience
requirements and latency concerns.
When will 5G be available finally in India?
While 5G phones are already available in India from Realme and iQoo, both Chinese-
owned, the 5G spectrum and the networks are going to take time. Rajan Mathews,
director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, has said he expects the
high price and limited availability of radio spectrum will delay 5G rollout in India another
5 years. The association asked TRAI to reconsider the prices, but the authority stood its
ground.
5G networks were once expected to be launched in India by late 2020 or early 2021, but
it’s now highly unlikely that this could happen before mid-2021. Even if a date is soon
set to auction the spectrum and the telcos quickly find the money to buy it, they still
need to perform a lot of tests before launching commercial service. Ericsson, a network
equipment vendor based in Sweden, has said 5G service is likely to be available in
India only from 2022.
By Shivani Raut
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