5G service rollout likely in August-September

The commercial rollout of 5G services could be expected from August-September 2022 onwards.

Timeline: Evolution from 1G to 5G

• 1G: Launched in the 1980s. Analog radio signals and supported only voice calls.
• 2G: Launched in the 1990s. Uses digital radio signals and supported both voice and data transmission with a Bandwidth (BW) of 64 Kbps.
• 3G: Launched in the 2000s. With a speed of 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps it has the ability to transmit telephone signal including digitised voice, video calls and conferencing.
• 4G: With a peak speed of 100 Mbps-1 Gbps it also enables 3D virtual reality.
• 5G: with a speed of more than 1Gbps, it is capable of connecting entire world without limits.

5^th Generation

• 5G is the next generation cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency.
• A government panel report points out that with 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gigabit per second (Gbps).
• This is in contrast to 4G link speeds in averaging 6-7 Megabit per second (Mbps) in India as compared to 25 Mbps in advanced countries.
• In April, South Korea and the U.S. became the first countries to commercially launch 5G services.

Why does India need 5G?

• Internet speed: The quick adoption of 5G technology, which has been in the works for some time now, can facilitate a quick ramp-up in internet speeds in this country.
• 5G has a high data speed, which improves mobility and user experience.
• Creating adequate infrastructure: India has been the largest consumer of data in the world.
• The country accounted for the consumption of 11 GB data per month per user, on an average.
• The existing broadband technology falls short to meet the soaring demand owing to lack of adequate infrastructure.
• Filling required gaps: 5G has enormous potential to accomplish the various gaps of the existing 4G LTE technology like low mobility speed, high latency and capital intensive deployment.
• Smarter, faster and efficient infrastructure: This new technology backbone is smarter, more efficient and up to 100 times faster than the 2G, 3G and 4G networks currently in use in India and can open up the economic potential of an unimaginable magnitude.
• Transformation of vital sectors: It can exponentially transform sectors such as communications, data management, analytics, fintech, healthcare, autonomous vehicles and entertainment facilitate smart cities, smart homes, and the IoT.
  
  

Benefits of 5G

• Faster Download: With 5G technology, consumers will be able to download data heavy content such as 8K movies and games with better graphics in just a few seconds.
• Emerging Technologies: The ultra-low latency offered by 5G makes the technology desirable for emerging technologies, including driverless vehicles, tele-surgery and real time data analytics, sensor-embedded network that will allow real time relay of information across fields such as manufacturing, consumer durables and agriculture.
• Transport: 5G can also help to make transport infrastructure more efficient by making it smart because it will enable vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. Thus, making driverless cars, a reality.
• Economic Impact: 5G is expected to create a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion in India by 2035, according to a report by a government-appointed panel.
• Moreover, 5G-enabled digitalisation revenue potential in India will be above $27 billion by 2026.

Which countries have already launched 5G services?

Globally, 5G network deployment is rapidly moving from trials to early commercialisation.

• In April 2019, South Korea and the U.S. became the first countries to commercially launch 5G services.
• China too has handed out commercial 5G licences to its major carriers earlier than expected.
• Other countries include Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and others.