India's 5G network infrastructure status

With the official launch of 5G, speeds are anticipated to increase significantly, latencies to be reduced, and network capabilities to be improved.But only when the network is supported by suitable telecom infrastructure can these be accomplished.

According to a report by CRISIL, the telecom industry requires an investment of INR 1.5-2.5 tn in the next 3 years for the development of infrastructure to facilitate the smooth rolling out of 5G services. Prices are anticipated to rise as a result of the significant capital expenditures that the telco providers would need to make to create the 5G infrastructure and purchase spectrum. In India, 5G networks will use new radio technology and a different network architecture to achieve higher bandwidth and reduced latency compared to their 4G and 3G forerunners.

The goal of the National Broadband Mission is to fiberize 70% of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) by 2025, which will need travelling more than 3 lakh kilometres throughout India between 2023 and 2025.

Due to significant variances in the rate of implementation, fiberization stood at 35.11% as of June 2022: 40% in the metro, 31-33% in CAT A circles, and 25-30% in select CAT B and CAT C circles, according to a report by TeamLease titled 'India’s 5G Rollout - Revolutionizing the People Supply Chain'.

Significant reasons for slow pace of fiberisation as stated by the report are:

• The government has taken attempts to guarantee consistent right-of-way (ROW) costs between circles since the enormous price variation is a significant impediment.
• BTS's heavy reliance on imports weakens fiscal support and strengthens the dollar.
• Order the rollout of 5G services in at least one city within the first year, but the cost savings will not be felt until 2024.
• Industry readiness is in its infancy, particularly with regard to MSMEs.

The country aims to begin deploying its domestically created 4G and 5G technology this year. India's telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier stated that once India introduces the indigenous 4G and 5G technology, the platform would start to be sold in other markets starting 2024.

Airtel and Jio are two major telecommunications companies in India currently deploying their 5G services in India and both have launched their 5G networks in over 3000 cities nationwide.

Jio is deploying its 5G network on Standalone (SA) model which comes with dedicated equipment and network functions. It requires a completely independent infrastructure setup and does not depend on 4G core infrastructure. Whereas Airtel is deploying its 5G network on Non-standalone (NSA) model, which is 5G network supported by 4G core infrastructure and does not require independent infrastructure facility.