5G an opportunity for Indian industry to reach out to global markets: Economic Survey

NEW DELHI: The upcoming 5G technology is an opportunity for Indian industry players to reach out to global markets while building a digital payment, knowledge and services economy, according to the Economic Survey 2018-19.

The government has plans to make India 5G ready by 2020 and conduct spectrum auction for providing radiowaves for 5G this year. "For India, 5G provides an opportunity for the industry to reach out to global markets," the Survey tabled in Parliament on Thursday said.

It said 5G will provide an opportunity for the consumers to gain with the economies of scale and citizens to reap the benefits of doorstep governance and availability of services, medical support, benefits transfers, education, entertainment and build a digital payment, knowledge and services economy.

Telecom regulator TRAI has recommended the auction of about 8,644 MHz of frequencies across eight signal bands, including in 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 3.3-3.4 gigahertz (GHz), 3.4-3.6 GHz etc, at an estimated base price of Rs 4.9 lakh crore.

A joint study by ICRIER and BIF has claimed that the spectrum price recommended by Trai is high due to inconsistency in the principle applied by the regulator for calculating base rates. The government constituted a high level 5G India 2020 Forum to articulate the vision for 5G in the country and submitted its report on "Making India 5G Ready" in August 2018.

Based on the views of the forum, seven committees have been constituted for action on spectrum policy, regulatory policy, education and awareness promotion programme, application and use case labs, development of application layer standards, major trials and technology demonstration and participation in International Standards for 5G. "The 5G has been conceived as a foundation for expanding the potential of the Networked Society. The landscape is expanding to include a massive scale of 'smart things' to be interconnected," the Survey said.