At an undisclosed race track in South Korea, two specially-equipped BMW sedans raced past each other at speeds exceeding 160 km/hr. This was part of a test conducted by Ericsson, one of the prime providers of 5G technology, which has data speed at 100 times of 4G. The cars are capable of taking u-turns at high speeds even while being unmanned. Data relayed from these vehicles at a speed of 3.2 Gbps over every 1/100 of a second, via a 5G connection, allows these self-driven cars to drive safely even at racing speeds.
Autonomous cars are just one of the many applications of 5G data services. India does not want to be left behind in the Internet of Things (IoT) race either—a technology that comes hand-in-hand with 5G data speeds. While 2G, 3G and 4G had been about phone devices connectivity, with 5G, it could me about connectivity of an entire city.
The prospects of the new technology are so promising that it can transform not just telecom sector but also agriculture, health services, traffic management, and management of civic amenities among others. With a number of smart cities on the anvil, the Narendra Modi administration seek one more achievement to compliment it—the launch of 5G in India.
Which is why the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently formalised the auction rules and spectrum prices for the 5G band, much ahead of its deadline to do so. A feat that the TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma termed "a necessary and timely step" by the telecom regulator to kick-start 5G rollout in the country.
However, in 2016, the government efforts to auction 5G spectrum bands received a tepid response from telecom service providers (TSPs). Consequently, in the new TRAI recommendations for 5G spectrum auction, the price of the spectrum has been drastically reduced from the 2016 auction base rates. Also, with equipment, manufacturers are now aiming India as a prime market and are seeking benefits of scale in 5G technology rollout. Though a date is yet to be formally announced, the next spectrum auction for 5G is likely to be held well before March 2019, before the next Parliamentary polls.
Alongside TRAI’s approval came the report of the high-level steering committee on 5G, which was constituted by the department of telecom. The panel recommendations aimed to provide broadband, machine-to-machine communication, Internet of Things (IoT), and a low latency (lag free) telecommunication network over 5G bandwidths. Among other things, the committee, comprising of academia and industry members, have made recommendations for an “early, efficient and pervasive deployment” of 5G technology in India.
“We have recommended for the availability of a three-tier additional spectrum for an effective rollout of 5G in India,” said Arogyaswamy Paulraj, the Stanford University professor emeritus in electrical engineering, who headed the high-level committee. The committee, however, is yet to set out crucial standards needed for the rollout and other regulatory policies.
As per its estimates, more than $250 billion investment in equipment and infrastructure for 5G would be required over the next ten years. Also, on the wishlist is having a denser network in urban as well as rural areas. “We expect that the regulatory policy for 5G should be in place by March 31, 2019,” said Paulraj.
The government has also identified two major original equipment manufacturers (OEM)—Nokia and Ericsson—to conduct four trials over the next two to three years. “OEMs will have to partner with TSPs to conduct these trials here,” said Paulraj. “I would say in the US we can launch 5G by the first quarter-end of 2019. In India, we expect this to happen by 2020,” he adds.
India is neither alone nor the first in Asia to foster 5G dreams. South Korea is one of the prime players in the 5G technology in Asia and is much ahead in the race. India is now in talks with countries like South Korea, seeking expertise in the sector. “We are in discussion with South Korea to jointly setup 5G test laboratories. The DoT is planning to collaborate with South Korea too in the area of telecommunications including setting up of 5G test laboratories,” said Aruna Sundararajan, Union telecom secretary, prior to the TRAI recommendations.
Despite the rush, India is not planning to be largely import-dependent. “We are a big country. We cannot just import everything. We need to become an active part in this new value chain,” adds Sundararajan, highlighting that India had initiated everything at the right time and had adopted the right approach for the new technology.
The government had allowed a budgetary support to DoT for the setting up of indigenous 5G test beds in IITs, to pursue research in the technology.
The Broadband India Forum (BIF) has also set up a '5G committee' to push the momentum on the rollout of 5G trials with key industry players. Earlier, a statement by BIF had claimed that 5G trials will be initiated by different companies, focussing different areas, namely, Nokia for public safety, Sterlite for manufacturing and Aeris for IoT. The 5G committee of BIF aims to help execute the mission of the government’s high-level forum on 5G and also champion large-scale trials across verticals.
Spectrum, infrastructure policies, investment, and all the other essential elements required to make India a front-runner in 5G deployment and use would also be formulated by the BIF 5G committee, which has representations from both government and industry. “It is indeed a large step. We have very important work cut out for each one of us in this committee,” said Nivruti Rai, country head of Intel India, who also heads the BIF committee.
The first set of trials are likely to be over by 2019, and well ahead of their prior deadline of 2020, assured Rai. “The First Response Public Safety Network was proposed as the first trial case. The emphasis of this trial will be on ensuring an environment where public safety is primary,” she said.
Each of the trial verticals will be headed by an industry leader, who will conduct the 5G trials with the support and collaboration of other leading industry players. The request for proposal (RFP) to initiate these trials are likely to be under the advice of an industry member of high-level committee set up by the government.
The purpose of the RFP will be to spell the scope of the trials and identify spectrum needs, topological requirements and other technical requirements. “The outcomes and feedback of these trials will then be provided to the government to help fine-tune policy aspects,” said T.V. Ramachandran, president of BIF.
“We expect these trials to form the bedrock of commercial use cases built around 5G technology, which will help accelerate the growth of our digital economy to meet the stated target of $1 trillion by 2022 as set out in the National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP),” said Ramachandran. According to him, the NDCP, 2018 had set out the “most purposeful interventions” for the advent of 5G.
But the telecom companies are not so excited about the prospects of a new technology coming in. “We had 3G for 15 years and we have had about 9 years with 4G. With 5G, the life of the technology could be even shorter. Who knows?” said a technical head of a leading mobile service provider. “5G is still not here, but I am already hearing about people setting up forums and groups to talk about 6G,” said this official.
According to most experts, the main issue with having a 5G rollout would be the optical fibre connectivity, which is critical for supporting 5G technology. A Vodafone official confirmed that less than 20 per cent of our mobile towers are optical fibre connected.
“It is not possible to immediately have a 5G connection at every home, which is why we are pushing for public wi-fi for high broadband speeds right now,” said N. Sivasailam, special secretary, DoT, who also oversaw the rollout of a nationwide optical fibre network under the government’s Bharatnet or MOFIN programme.
“Optical fibre and right-of-way is an issue for us. In Bangalore, the city has determined that optical fibres are making the city look ugly. So they are cutting optical fibres, what can we do?” asks Rajen Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
“For TSPs there is the issue of making large investments, getting right-of-way and also standards to be set for a 5G rollout,” said Mathews, who is a member of government’s high-level 5G policy setting committee. “Everyone is saying that we will have 5G by 2019. Even the government is saying so, so we too are going by that. But all things considered, I would say we would launch 5G services by 2020,” says Mathews.
According to him, problems related to the laying of optical fibre networks are deterring the spread of high-speed internet in India. Reliance Jio, a newcomer, had already laid a substantial amount of optical fibre across the country. According to Mathews, other network operators, too, would need to have the fibre network laid in every nook and corner of India, for 5G technology to work properly.
A recent survey on Information and communications technology (ICT) penetration worldwide figured that, in India, despite its demand for high data volumes, only 20 per cent of mobile phone users in the 15-65 years age category use the internet on their mobile devices. The data gap between urban and rural India is about 22 per cent, according to the After Access: ICT Access and use in India and Global South survey’.
“Ensuring quality of services and a higher penetration of data-led services are going to be the key for India. At present, India's data penetration is lower than many Latin American nations and some of the African nations. Giving just supply-side solutions like 5G, may not be enough going ahead,” said Helani Galpaya, CEO of Sri Lanka-based NGO, LIRNEasia, which conducted the survey across South Asia as a part of the larger global survey.
