The telecom industry is on the cusp of another revolution, and this time 5G is the buzzword. The industry, which is reeling under a massive ₹4-lakh-crore debt, has placed its bets on mobile data explosion for its revival. In an interaction with BusinessLine , TV Ramachandran, President of Broadband India Forum (BIF) – a think-tank working for the development of broadband ecosystem - throws light on India’s 5G readiness. Ramachandran was the Chief Executive Officer of one of the first cellular ventures in India - Sterling Cellular (Essar Cellphone) – and also the first Chairman of the India Interest Group of GSM MoU Association. TV, as he is popularly known, had set up industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India and led it for 12 years. Excerpts:
Why is there is a hype around 5G, and what can it offer that 4G couldn’t?
The fact is that 4G is very good. It’s mobile broadband and can do a lot of things. The way that data is exploding in India, with an annual growth rate of 23 per cent from 4.6 exabytes recorded in 2018, a lot of that being video traffic, the crunch in capacity is becoming dense.
Although 4G is much more efficient than 3G, more energy efficient technology, there are certain applications that cannot be met with 4G.
In an economy like ours, which is so deficient in healthcare, its difficult to increase the number of surgeons and doctors overnight. 5G makes robotic surgery possible, especially in rural areas, which is a desperate need in India. It comes with low latency, a blessing for critical manufacturing, and also enables industries to set up more units in rural areas with cheaper plans.
Better traffic management and higher speeds enable downloading of a two-hour movie in just 5 seconds or so. To be a digital sovereign power, we need 5G. It is inevitable for a country like India.
What would be the band on which India will roll out 5G?
We expect 5G roll outs on a combination of bands; nobody can work on a single band. We need multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), Millimetre Wave (MM Wave) and also sub-Giga Hertz wave.
We need coverage and capacity, so it would begin with 600 MHz, which is broadcasting spectrum, and go up to Millimetre Wave (2.4 GHz and above).
How about using E and V band spectrum for last mile connectivity?
E band (71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz) is what I term as wireless fibre due to its fibre-like capacity, even as it retains wireless capabilities. It has the ability to carry 1-2 GBPS of data.
We have E and V band (57-66 GHz) spectrum, of which E is more suitable for backhaul. These would help in eliminating Right of Way and last mile connectivity issues.
The telecom industry is already saddled with a debt of about ₹4-lakh crore and needs to spend another ₹1-lakh crore in the next 2-3 years for fiberisation to support 5G?
The overall costs of 5G roll outs would be at least ₹4-5 lakh crore in the next 3-4 years. This is not only for fiberisation but also for overall costs that include spectrum charges, infrastructure and roll out plans.
And this need not be per operator as the entire expense could be shared by the industry.
We need to share active and passive infrastructure, spectrum and radio access network among others; without active sharing, it would be difficult to meet these requirements.
In the short term, the industry needs at least ₹5-lakh crore to take 5G seriously, and this is only for some select rural areas.
The roll outs would happen more across metros but there will be select rural locales, where it’s a challenge to provide any of the essential services.
How ready is India for 5G?
In June, the government had promised to allocate 5G trial spectrum within 100 days. Some of our vendors were ready as early as December last year and January this year to start 5G trials.
We are ready with infrastructure and equipment, and following the trials it would take 6-9 months, can’t be less than that, for the commercial roll out.
There are some spectrum held by Government (Defence), which was also to be vacated for 5G?
There were some challenges on certain bands of satellite spectrum, which have been resolved.