5G Services In India

IN NEWS:

• Taking India's digital transformation and connectivity to new heights, the Prime Minister launched 5G services in India on October 1st at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

MORE ON NEWS:

• Addressing the event, the Prime Minister said that the launch is a major step in the vision of Digital India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• Also, the PM urged telecom industry associations to launch awareness campaigns in rural areas on how 5G services can improve their lives.
• Among the three major telecom operators, Bharti Airtel immediately rolled out 5G services in eight cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Bengaluru, and said the rest of the country would get it by March 2024.
• Reliance Jio is set to launch 5G in metro cities by Diwali this year, and in the rest of the country by 2023-end.
• Vodafone Idea has not announced a timeline yet.

WHAT IS 5G?

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest cellular communication standard for transmitting data over wireless networks. The "G" stands for "GENERATION".

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• Each Generation is defined as a set of telephone network standards for the technological implementation of a particular mobile phone system. With each generation the speed and the data capacity increases and the technology used to achieve that speed changes. For eg, 1G offers 2.4 kbps, 2G offers 64 Kbps , 3G offers 144 kbps-2 mbps whereas 4G offers 100 Mbps - 1 Gbps.

• 5G mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum
  • The low band spectrum has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange but the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps.
    • This band suits commercial cellphone users who may not have specific demands for very high speed internet.
  • The mid-band spectrum offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
    • This band can be utilised by industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks that can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
  • The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
    • Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G has been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps).This band has application in several cutting edge technologies like IoT(Internet of Things).

OPPORTUNITIES WITH 5G:

• Speed:
  • 5G networks will be 10 times faster than existing 4G networks. Data rates of about 10 Gbps or higher can be achieved which provides the user with better experience and download and upload speeds will be higher.
• Latency:
  • It is the delay between when a signal is sent and when it is received. This has decreased with every generation. High-speed mobile network will be equivalent to a fiber optic Internet connection accessed wirelessly.
• Internet of Things:
  • IoT applications require an efficient network for data collection, processing, transmission, control and real-time analytics. 5G is the most efficient candidate for Internet of Things due to its flexibility, unused spectrum availability and low cost solutions for deployment. 5G systems offer the possibility of providing reliable connections to massive numbers of wireless devices simultaneously.

• Industry:
  • 5G will help in the digitalization of industry to enable 4th industrial revolution. It will enhance automation and improve the efficiency of production processes.
• Agriculture:
  • 5G technology can be utilized for agriculture and smart farming. E.g. 5G powered smart sensors can be used for irrigation control, access control etc.
• Media & Entertainment:
  • Entertainment industry will hugely benefit from 5G wireless networks. Augmented reality and virtual reality requires HD video with low latency. 5G network is powerful enough to power AR and VR with amazing virtual experience.
• Digital inclusion:
  •  5G network can accommodate more devices simultaneously. Only such a network can cater to the needs of a large population of India.
• Healthcare:
  • 5G technology can revolutionize medical field by powering innovations like wearable smart medical devices, telemedicine etc.
• Security and surveillance:
  • 5G wireless technology is one of the best solutions for security and surveillance due to higher bandwidth. 5G connectivity will support the bandwidth requirement of high-resolution 4k and 8K security cameras.

CHALLENGES/CONCERNS IN REALIZING 5G IN INDIA:

• Spectrum availability:
  • Department of telecommunications (DoT) has earmarked 300 MHz in the mid-band spectrum of the 3.3-3.6 GHz range for 5G. It is argued that this 300 MHz is not enough for a large country like India. Also, the defence department and ISRO have sought 125MHz out of this 300MHz, which leaves just 175MHz for commercial telecom services.
• Spectrum pricing:
  • Although the reduction in base price recommended by TRAI is largely on expected lines, it is lower than the industry’s demand. Indian telecom sector is already suffering from debt crisis which prevents them from making investments for infrastructure expansion. It won’t be viable for them to shift to 5G with this pricing.
• Technology:
  •  Achieving high data rates with low latency requires a number of technical changes. India lacks the technical knowhow for the roll out of 5G. She is heavily dependent on foreign manufacturers for 5G equipment to establish networks.
• Security:
  • India is largely dependent on China for equipment imports. However, a 2017 Chinese law makes it mandatory for Chinese companies to share data with their military. This raises fears of potential espionage. India’s data protection regime is still not mature enough to take care of data security and privacy concerns.
• Policy:
  • Lack of a clear policy to incentivize heavy investment on 5G in India. Concern over pricing shifts the focus from long term benefits.
• Interference issues:
  • The spectrum used by 5G will be near that of some remote sensing such as well as weather and Earth observation satellites. Interference to satellite operations impairs weather prediction performance affecting the economy and public safety
• Health concerns:
  • 5G uses higher frequency waves than earlier mobile networks and require more transmitters than previous technologies positioned closer to ground level. So, there is a concern over increased exposure to radiations.

WAY FORWARD:

The shift from 4G to 5G is not incremental in nature, but transformational. It is important that India make most of the opportunity and should not lag behind the rest of the world

To ensure that we need to take suitable measures like:

• The availability of affordable and adequate spectrum must be ensured. In addition to the proposed band of 300 MHz, the 26 GHz millimeter wave band spectrum can also be made available for rolling out 5G services.
• A dedicated organization on the lines of ISRO shall be established to develop capacity in communication technologies and hardware development. This will reduce our dependency on foreign equipment which compromises our security. Simultaneously we need to build cyber security architecture to defend against any possible offensives.
• Industry is a vital link in the expansion of communication sector. They must be taken into confidence with a multi stakeholder approach by addressing their various concerns.
• Adequate scientific investigations must be carried out to rule out any adverse health impacts.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. “5G can unlock new economic opportunities and societal benefits and help India leap over the traditional barriers to development and further the ‘Digital India’ vision”. Discuss.