5G can transform socio-economic fabric of the society

The new technology will allow the TSPs to open new avenues to services, beyond the normal voice and data

By Hemant Kashyap

The next generation of connectivity will help telecom service providers (TSPs) move beyond connectivity and collaborate across the sectors to deliver new and rich services to consumers and enterprises alike. Highlighting this at the recently held Voice&Data 5G Conference, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Secretary V Raghunandan said that 5G had immense transformative capabilities across multiple aspects.

He tipped the telcos to go on and develop strategic partnerships in sectors such as finance, agriculture, transportation, health, and so on. Delivering the Special Address in the inaugural session, Raghunandan said that 5G will not only supply higher data speeds and capacity at lower latencies, it will also do so efficiently. He also pointed out that 5G will improve energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, network efficiency, and efficiency of other systems.

The new telecom technology can provide millions of rural Indians with access to opportunities they were deprived of till now.

5G networks will give farmers access to bigger markets and forge a closer link with farmers and consumers, which was not earlier seen.

The TRAI Secretary further said that 5G will allow the TSPs to open new avenues to services, beyond the normal voice and data. Internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and user experience-related technologies were some of the non-telecom applications of 5G laid out by the TRAI secretary.

Rural India is a priority

Highlighting the socio-economic transformation that 5G will bring about, Raghunandan said that the new telecom technology can provide millions of rural Indians with access to opportunities they were deprived of till now. “This will ensure a positive growth curve for the rural economy and remains the area with the greatest potential,” he added.

According to the latest TRAI data shared by Raghunandan, there are about 534 million rural mobile broadband subscribers in India, which the TRAI Secretary pointed out represents almost 60% of all mobile subscribers in India.

He also mentioned that since agriculture and related verticals remain the primary business for most of the rural population, 5G can help in many ways. “5G networks will give farmers access to bigger markets and forge a closer link with farmers and consumers, which was not earlier seen,” he stated.

Government’s connectivity initiatives

Sharing details of the significant government policies aimed at facilitating the deployment of the new generation of mobile networks, Raghunandan touched upon the National Digital Communication Policy that was announced in 2018. He further said that the government sought to facilitate the development of new use-cases for the next-gen mobile networks via the policy, including AI, machine-to-machine (M2M), AR, and VR.

Next, he talked about the government’s efforts of building an end-to-end 5G testbed, an initiative introduced in 2018. The three-year program, he said, had a budget of around Rs 224 crore. The program sought proof of concept (PoCs) for 5G compatible with the global standards. He ran the audience through the progress leading to the imminent rollout; first, DoT issued guidelines in June 2019 and by May 2021, 5G trials were underway across three spectrum bands.

Addressing the connectivity issues faced by rural India, Raghunandan said that out of over six lakh villages, 33% were in Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh alone. Drawing attention to the same, he then spoke about the government’s flagship program – the BharatNet.

“The broadband project is the world’s largest rural broadband project, aiming to connect all of the villages in the country,” he said adding that out of the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, 1.6 lakh have already been connected to the BharatNet. The TRAI Secretary also informed that over five lakh kilometers of fiber have already been laid across the country, while more than one lakh Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed. He also highlighted that more than five lakh FTTH connections were functional in the country that had about 15 lakh, active users, as per the May 2021 data, while 2.7 million GB data was used.

While over five lakh kilometers of fibre have been laid across the country, more than one lakh Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed.

The TRAI secretary then talked about PM-WANI, the Wi-Fi Access Network Initiative by the Government of India. Cleared in 2020, the project will include PDOs, multiple industry players, and others to set up a network of Wi-Fi Access hotspots across rural India. It will be a cost-effective measure to extend the Digital India vision.

Lastly, he also mentioned that the ever-growing Satcom industry has a big role to play in connecting India. “Though the affordability is a concern for the time being, it will surely help in furthering the mission to connect the entire country,” he concluded.

hemantka@cybermedia.co.in