Customised 5G, a need of India
India
can formulate its own
Customised
5G or 4G+ technology
India
Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates India’s total wireless data usage to
reach 13 exabytes/month by 2025 (5x of 1Q18 data usage). The existing
technology is inadequate to meet such high data demand; therefore, a judicious
mix of fiberisation and 5G roll-out will be required.
India
can formulate its own customised 5G or 4G+ technology than adopting global
standards for 5G in toto to focus on improving user experience or cater to
evolving enterprise requirement, while avoiding critical applications requiring
ultra-low latency.
From
the spectrum band perspective, a judicious mix of 700 megahertz (MHz) and C
band (3.4-3.6 gigahertz; GHz) would be ideal, as it would ensure wider coverage
and provide good capacity. From the network infrastructure perspective, hotspot
devices with 3G/4G compatibility will take precedence over handsets in 5G deployment.
Also,
Indian telcos need to adopt similar technology to optimally utilise and share
the available infrastructure, making 5G a financially viable option. However,
few questions left unanswered include 5G challenge on net neutrality as some
use cases are prioritised, feasibility of 5G for end-users, and payment
ambiguity for 5G (telcos or end-users).
Fiberisation
& 5G Roll-Out to Address Growing Data Demand: India’s wireless data usage
is likely to increase by 2025, led by rising penetration of smartphones,
availability of high speed internet at affordable tariffs and shift in media
viewership to online platforms from traditional medium. Fiberisation, along
with complementary high speed 5G wireless technology would be required as
existing 4G ecosystem may face capacity and technological constraints. Ind-Ra
believes fibres can act as a core infrastructure, while wireless can ensure
last-mile connectivity (edge of the network).
Need
for Customised 5G: Globally, 5G is seen as a key enabler for virtual reality
applications and internet of things (IoT). While existing technologies (up to
4G) focus on connecting mobile devices, especially smartphones, 5G aims to
bring connectivity to an array of devices such as television, computers,
household appliances and factory machinery.
New
use cases will inevitably continue to rise; hence, India can formulate its own
customised 5G, which can focus on applications to improve user experience (high
definition media, multi-person video call, etc.) or evolving enterprise
requirement (smart city, cloud-based enterprise solutions, rural integration,
data warehouses, etc.) than adopting global 5G technology standards. India can
avoid critical applications which require ultra-low latency and extremely high
reliability (virtual reality, remote surgery, automatic vehicle control), as it
would be challenging to make an economic case to invest in developing such
ecosystem.
New Approach needed
for 5G Spectrum Strategy: Spectrum in 3.2-6.0GHz and 24-28GHz bands are being adopted
globally for 5G trials. Selectively, higher bands in 32-43GHz are also being
evaluated. As per media reports, the Indian government may consider harmonising
3.5GHz and 26GHz bands for the 5G rollout. Ind-Ra believes a judicious mix will
be appropriate for India as a 700MHz band would play a crucial part in ensuring
widespread coverage for low data rate applications (particularly in remote
areas) and a 3.5GHz band would provide good capacity with a high speed in high
data usage applications.
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