Trends 2016: 5G, VoLTE, IoT to lead the way

By Dilip Modi

The telecom and mobile handset sector is among the most dynamic sectors in the Indian economy, with a host of new launches and technologies being introduced every year. The Indian sector also features amongst the most valuable business sectors in the Asia-Pacific region, owing to the growing disposable incomes and increasing penetration of smartphones and mobile internet in India. Technological landscapes are changing rapidly with new innovative products and technologies being introduced by international and domestic brands in the country.

Some of the key emerging technology trends that have the potential to disrupt the sector in the coming year are:  IoT (Internet of Things), 5G and VoLTE. With the growing penetration of smartphones and connected devices, these will redefine the technology landscapes in the workspace and at home.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data. The Internet of Things allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit.

IoT has great potential to revolutionize fields such as healthcare, automobiles, personal appliances and industrial equipment. Through intelligent machine to machine communication (M2M) and Radio Frequency identification (RFID), equipments and devices can record and exchange data, process information and generate machine commands. Driverless cars are a great example of IoT in action, wherein the car can collect real time traffic data through GPS and navigates the car through the best possible routes for the rider and communicates with other cars to avoid collisions as well.

The Internet of Things or M2M (machine to machine) communication is expected to revolutionize the business and personal technology sectors in the coming years. Analysts even predict the rise of new industries altogether, especially with overseas ICT companies entering the Indian market. While many intend to rely on LTE for the application of this new technology, broadband will also play an important role in the same.

5G for mobile broadband connectivity

5G technology stands for the 5^th generation mobile networks, which will be the next major phase of mobile telecommunication standards beyond the current 4G technology. Demand growth, data rates and network ability are the key drivers for technological evolution of higher capacity networks, which deliver improved performance through access to broader carriers in the new spectrums. While 5G technology is currently under development, there are no firm standards in place yet and the telecom market is working on creating the same.

In addition to providing faster speeds, 5G technology will meet the needs of the new generation such as rich and interactive media and entertainment downloads and applications, reality augmentations and Internet of Things amongst others.

According to a recent industry study, data consumption in India is growing at the rate of 25% - 50% annually and this trend is expected to continue over the next two decades. The main drivers for the increased traffic volumes are increased availability of content and the number of applications requiring high data speeds. Streaming services (audio and video), interactive video and mobile Internet connectivity will continue to be used more broadly as more devices connect to the Internet.

Voice over Long term evolution (VoLTE)

As mobile broadband networks to expand in perpetuity, telecom networks will utilize VoLTE to offer innovative communication services including HD voice, music sharing and video communication over IP networks.

The VoLTE device ecosystem is being developed to support large-scale expansion plans and rollouts from telecom providers, with devices being designed to utilize VoLTE abilities, supporting HD voice and video calling. VoLTE provides a great opportunity to build a whole new communication platform over IP networks, with increased value for operators, consumers and enterprises. The implementation of VoLTE offers operators many cost and operational benefits – for example, eliminating the need to have voice services on one network and data on another. VoLTE will unlock new revenue potential by utilizing IMS as the common service platform for both data and voice services.

(The author, Dilip Modi, is executive chairman, Spice Mobility)