For 5G adoption in India, the government needs to think beyond a test bed

The department of Telecom is contemplating to support the setup of 5G test bed along with IIT Chennai.

5G is going to play a pivotal role in ensuring the right initiatives are taken in the direction of healthcare, machine learning, smart cities and Internet of Things. Mritunjay Kapur, head – telecom, media and technology, KPMG, India, believes, "The is a good step because the implementation of 5G will happen realistically." (Source: Economic Times)

He further adds, "If the telecom operators are able to implement 5G by the timeframe that the government is envisioning, we possibly will be the early adopters of 5G. It means that use cases like digitisation and loT become a reality earlier. "

According to DD Mishra, research director at research and advisory firm Gartner, India, "We need a better connect between strategy and execution, especially in terms of Digital India, so that we are able to leverage the enhanced allocation. " (Source: Economic Times)

The result on whether the initiative of 5G will actually be a success depends on various areas that DoT, government and regulator TRAI would need to address. It is important that the government truly means business when it states India will be implementing technologies of the next-generation.

"Success will depend on the goal of the test bed. If it is to understand how 5G will be beneficial in relevant use cases and enabling new technologies, it will bring value in the long-term," said Amresh Nandan, research director, Gartner India. (Source: Economic Times)

There are also certain concerns related to the availability of spectrum, suitable band, taxes and other aspects such as pricing needs to be addressed. With the telecom industry already being under debt, investment in the future will depend on the way spectrum pricing is rationalised. According to Nandan, the launch of 5G might also give rise to private 5G networks managed by enterprises that will allow new use cases across different verticals.

Source: techgig.com