What helps and what stops India with 5G?

In the TLF V&D Dialogue 5G Series on "Strengthening Digital Infrastructure & Technologies" various industry experts put the spotlight on some burning questions that we need to address like – digital inclusion, digital security, the contribution of the digital economy to India’s future, the Broadband infrastructure fund and many adjacent challenges.

Moderator Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia Group asked the panel about the demand landscape in the post-pandemic space as we move towards new 5G applications and a new world of use-cases.

Mobility itself is a big use-case in India and so is Broadband, pointed out Akhil Gupta: Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprise. “We need a wireless solution and 5G is a good answer. Apart from robotic surgeries and driverless cars and other such applications are seen in global areas, in India, we can look at many dedicated and fully-encrypted industrial solutions.”

“Up to 4G it was all about mobility, and now in the new world, the importance of network coverage, adequate spectrum, etc. would become critical. The use would be towards a lot of areas- Where pricing, interoperability, etc. would matter a lot. India may outpace others in the development of apps as industry 4.0 will take strong shape in India. Service-level apps would be strong areas here and we will emerge very well due to our inherent strengths.” Argued Lt. Gen. Dr. S P Kochhar, Director General, COAI.

“5G offers an incredible promise for enterprises – especially in areas of faster speed with lower latency and increased connectivity. It would a paradigm shift in the operations of an enterprise. Customer experience and employee experience will also see positive impacts due to 5G. Also, smart city applications would emerge as areas with huge promise.” Augured Anjan Das, Chief Policy Advocacy Officer, STL – Sterlite Technologies Ltd.

The panel dwelt on the possibility of infrastructure sharing for 5G. There is no limitation of the technology. Device prices - that is also not an impediment. But spectrum pricing will determine a lot of progress. 5G will need multiples of current infrastructure if we want to take it all over the country. We will need massive infrastructure – small cells, industry sharing, fiber, etc. The number of base stations required in 5G is also higher compared to conventional technologies.

We need regulatory mandates for more fiberisation, the requisite impetus at many levels, and measures for strong fiber networks while removing duplication. Permissions for network roll-outs, Right of Way confusion, the plausibility of PPP models with a focus in the area of minimum quality standards, correct pricing, control on predatory pricing, differential rates for trenching, strong encouragement for research and development and patents, enforceable policies, and other such challenges also have to be looked into.

The panel also averred that policy-level issues, spectrum availability, and industry collaboration would be key determinants of how India’s growth story here moves ahead. The government has taken some measures to improve the policy part. We need a strong execution path now – like uniformity, automatic escalations, reasonable pricing, infrastructure improvement, long-sighted initiatives, and other practical issues.

Even if fiber becomes easy to roll out, we will need to make sure it reaches well and uniformly with back-haul and access. The telecom industry has to be financially stable and profitable to move towards the future. The industry has gone through a lot and is still fragile in many aspects. For India to be a leader, we need to ensure that the industry in the country is financially-solid and robust.

“Connectivity and reach are important for the digital growth of India and for that we need wireless coverage where 5G becomes a natural choice. 5G should not be confined to some main cities. It must go deep into the country. Instead of spending money only spectrum, operators should also invest in networks.” Reasoned Akhil Gupta: Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.

Will the same debate about funding and technology readiness continue when we move to 6G too, the moderator spurred some good brainstorming on open architectures and sustainable models. How can we create something that is future-proof? The panelists suggested that networks need to evolve and there should be a concerted effort so that networks can adapt to any technology leap with a software change instead of a hardware change.

The panel also dismissed the idea that India was slow on 5G. Some level of technology maturity is essential. We are not late. We are evolving well. Especially as the security challenge is also immense now. Most networks are software-defined so all vulnerabilities of software accrue here. To control software we have AI so we have to be wary of the corruption of AI. It is, hence, a complex area from a security angle.

We need flexibility and adaptability to take care of security. So an overlay approach will not work. It has to happen organically. This is where India can emerge as a smart country. India can leverage our innate software strengths well here. The panel also hinted that the country has already started working well in the direction of 6G – with concerted discussions and efforts among academia, government, and industry on models, standards, etc.

Key interventions that the panel recommended were these – priority to digital infrastructure in policy think-tanks, no compromise on quality and security aspects, creation of domestic champions, financial sustainability of the industry, light-touch regulations, focus on telecom as a utility, making the Internet available for everyone and sharing of infrastructure.