As the Indian government plans to roll out 5G by 2020, test beds have already been set up at IIT Delhi and Madras, and the telecom companies are working on to strenghten the back-end infrastructure to facilitate a smooth rollout of the technology in the country. Experts believe that the rollout of 5G would be a game changer not just because of its higher speed and better response capabilities, but because it would transform the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) delivery platforms such as extreme mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine communication (MMC) and critical machine communication (CMC), which will play a transforming role in several industry segments.
“The first-generation mobile network (1G) was all about voice, 2G was about voice and texting, 3G was about voice, texting and data, 4G was everything in 3G but faster, and 5G will be even faster. However, 5G is much more than just fast downloads, it is a unique combination of high-speed connectivity, very low latency which would be the root cause of this technology disruption. The speed, reach and quality of 5G services will depend on government and regulators, and as much as the quality of ICT cabling and connectivity infrastructure that the service providers would provide, both on inter as well as on the intra connectivity fronts,” Ninad Desai, District Chair, BICSI India, told THE WEEK.
Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI) is a professional association supporting the growing ICT community. ICT covers the spectrum of voice, data, electronic safety and security, project management, and audio and video technologies. BICSI is currently serving more than 23,000 ICT professionals, including designers, installers and technicians who provide the fundamental infrastructure for telecommunications, audio-video, life-safety and automation systems.
Desai observed that getting upgraded on front-end applications for 5G would not be a great deal since it involves less time, however it primarily requires financial resources to make it happen. “The radio systems are already 5G ready, the so-called processing units, base band units, the brains of the system are 5G ready, and are even ready and prepared for IoT software upgrade as well. But the biggest challenge is addressing the weakest link, the ICT infrastructure. Countries such as South Korea and Japan have put in a lot of effort to revamp their ICT infrastructure to make it 5G ready and Korea is set to roll it out in 2018 and Japan by 2020. India will also have to embrace this technology as the present age demands it,” said Desai.
Desai suggests that, in order to embrace 5G, the need of the hour in India is to have quality ICT designers, managers and installers who understand and practice, rather than just keep doing the traditional way that the majority of them have been used to for the past many years. “The ICT industry needs programmes that aim to address these challenges and equip professionals with the right tools in terms of knowledge about the ICT cabling technology jargons and the reality that exists factually. In simple terms, we require a training framework that provides professionals, a 360-degree view of their specific ICT infrastructure requirements and equips them with the tools to decide on how they should do things the right way,” added Desai.
Another telecom expert Devasia Kurian, CEO of *astTECS, a telecommunication products and solutions company, is of the view that telecom service providers in India are currently enhancing capacity by adding spectrum, as well as strengthening the network to create a whole new ecosystem.
“The telecom service providers, regulators and the industry is working towards addressing deployment and connectivity challenges before 5G rolls out. Telecom operators have already carried lab trials successfully, demonstrating initial 5G capabilities. Rolling of 5G will encompass various services being delivered to the end-user across multiple access points and multi-layer networks. 5G will be relevant in driving next-generation IoT services across industry verticals that include, automotive, healthcare, manufacturing and so on. Its inherent benefits include improved network speed and capacity, reduced communication latency and flexible service delivery models,” Kurian told THE WEEK.