A Special

series on Current Affairs –

Mains- 2022
5G Technology
TOPIC DISCUSSED:
1. India’s Telecom Potential
2. Scope of 5G penetration
3. Features of Spectrum Allocation
4. About 5G and Difference between 4G.
5. Benefits of deploying 5G
6. Challenges in executing 5G Presented by:
Ganesh Kumar. M
7. Way forward
Present situation:
According to a forecast by Ericsson, 5G is estimated to cover over 2 billion people
by the end of 2021. By 2027, 75% of the world’s population is expected to have 5G
access.
* * With over 117 crore telecom users and more than 82 crore internet subscribers
India as the second-fastest digitising economy were in the race of 5G.
* In the India region as a whole, mobile data traffic has grown by more than 15
times in the past 5 years (from 0.8EB per month to 13EB per month in 2021) and is
expected to more than double in the next 3 years. With the projected traffic increase,
service providers would benefit significantly from the efficiency gains provided by 5G.
Who are all in 5G race?
Globally, 59 countries have deployed 5G so far. In the West, this includes countries
like the USA, Canada, UK and countries in the European Union. In Asia, China, Japan,
South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have rolled out 5G. In the Middle East,
UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain are among those who have joined
the race
Scope of 5g Penetration:
*  As an Ericsson Consumer Lab study indicated, there is significant consumer
interest in adopting 5G –, 40 million smartphone users could take up 5G in its first
year of availability.
* 5G is projected to account for almost 40 percent of mobile subscriptions – 500
million – by the end of 2027. By then, smartphone users in the region are forecast to
consume 50GB of data per month on average. 
* According to an Ericsson-Arthur D Little study, 5G will enable Indian mobile
service providers to generate USD 17 billion in incremental revenue from
enterprises by 2030.
* 5G will also enable service providers to launch new services for consumers,
including home broadband, enhanced video, multiplayer mobile gaming, and AR/VR
services.
Salient features of spectrum Allocation:
* Spectrum is an integral and necessary part of the entire 5G eco-system.
* A total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put
to auction to be held by the end of July, 2022. The auction will be held for spectrum in
various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300
MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands.
* Bidders participated: Jio, Airtel, Vodofone, Adani.
* For the first time ever, there is no mandatory requirement to make upfront
payment by the successful bidders. Payments for spectrum can be made in 20
equal annual instalments to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year. This is
expected to significantly ease cash flow requirements and lower the cost of doing
business in this sector.
* The bidders would be given an option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years
with no future liabilities with respect to balance instalments.
 * The Cabinet also decided to enable the development and setting up of Private
Captive Networks to spur a new wave of innovations in Industry 4.0 applications
such as machine to machine communications, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial
Intelligence (AI) across automotive, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and other sectors.
E.g. Adani
About Earnest Money Deposit:
* The EMD of all the four competitors for this year adds up to Rs. 21,800 crore.
* EMD is a type of deposit that the bidders pay to the auctioneers, which is
considered as a token amount paid to the auctioneers, indicating the bidder’s interest.
( According to the Department of Telecom (DoT), upfront payment is not
mandatory for the companies. The money can be paid in 20 equal instalments.
Telecom companies are permitted to go after radiowaves worth up to seven or even
eight times the EMD amounts given by them. 
About 5G:
* 5G continues the evolution of wireless after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G .5G is the latest
upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
* It is the next generation cellular technology that will provide faster and more
reliable communication with ultra-low latency. Latency is a measure of the time it takes a
packet of information to travel between two points.  Latency in 4G networks is currently about
50 milliseconds, while 5G networks are expected to shrink that to an impressive 1 ms.
* 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).
* other technologies like virtual reality, advanced IoT applications and low-latency
gaming experience. Metaverse is also going to heavily rely on 5G solutions to become
responsive and successful in the market. 
Speed:
4G can currently reach top speeds of up to 100 Mbps, though real-world
performance is generally no more than 35 Mbps. 5G has the potential to be 100 times
faster than 4G, with a top theoretical speed around 20 Gbps and current, real-world
speeds from 50 Mbps to 3 Gbps.
Bandwidth:
5G is expected to have significantly more bandwidth, or capacity, than 4G as well.
4G uses a narrow slice of the available spectrum from 600 MHz to 2.5 GHz, but 5G is
divided into three different bands. Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz,
1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency
bands.
Consume Low Power:
A 5G network antenna uses a relatively small amount of power, from less than 1 W
up to a few hundred watts depending on type , about the same as the ranges as of
traditional lightbulbs.
 Benefits
Boost Economic Growth:
* The upcoming 5G services have the potential to create new age businesses,
generate additional revenue for enterprises and provide employment arising from
the deployment of innovative use-cases and technologies. It will boost India’s
economic growth by $450 billion (about Rs 36 lakh crore) in the next 15 years.
* To achieve a 5 trillion economy in near future it is essential to transform India’s
digital infrastructure like 5G.
Support 4th Industrial Revolution:
* The fifth generation mobile network, or 5G , is the next level of mobile network
that will shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industrial 4.0, quality of service
delivery, innovation, etc. by facilitating smarter and developing societies. 
Connect Devices efficiently:
* 5G allowing billions of devices to gather and share information in real-time .It
will also help in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning as scientists will
be able to program more data into systems. 
Ensure Low latency communication:
The Ultra-high Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) - in simple
words, this is the kind of communication used for industrial and consumer applications
such as AR/VR devices and remote surgery can possible by 5G.
Ensure Good Governance:
* Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 5G technology would strengthen the
health, education, logistics and infrastructure sectors which ensures Good governance
in all dimensions.
* Broadly speaking, the uses of 5G in India may encompass enhanced outdoor
and indoor broadband, the Internet of things, smart cities, smart agriculture, energy
monitoring, remote monitoring, smart grids, telehealth, industrial automation, remote
patient monitoring and industrial automation
* It can helpful for achieving the goals what our PM told in Independence day
“Panch Pran” (five resolves) to fulfil the dreams of freedom fighters for the country by
2047.
* Its use is a chance for Indian policy-makers to educate and empower citizens and
businesses, and transform existing cities into smart and innovative cities. 
It can Increase Mobile penetration:
* According to a forecast by Ericsson, 5G is estimated to cover over 2 billion
people by the end of 2021. By 2027, 75% of the world’s population is expected to have
5G access.
Can improve Defense communication:
* 5G for the military will improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
(ISR) systems and processing, and enable new methods of command and control.
Every munition, sensor, weapon and robot in the battlefield will be connected and they
can communicate with each other.
 Challenges
Can increase the User cost:
The adoption of 5G services would hinge directly on the premium levied from 4G
services. So, despite the two rounds of major tariff increases in December 2019 and
November 2021, there could be another increase in rates (for 4G services) in the
current fiscal. 
Digital Divide:
5G would need ubiquitous coverage to be successful. Enabling it in just a few urban
centers would create nothing but hotspots that will not deliver real-life.  The negative
implication of 5G is furthering the ‘digital divide’ in between urban and rural area
Can increase further debt to telecom providers:
Telecommunications in India is a price-sensitive and competitive market. The sector is
capital-intensive, and has to consistently invest in upgrading technologies and
improving services. A tariff war initiated by the entry of new players in the previous
decade, resulted in severe financial distress for companies. Therefore, the investment
made towards 5G could potentially further stress the sector’s debt position.
Fiberisation: 5G networks require robust infrastructure, especially fiberisation of
existing  towers to 80-85% to handle the huge data traffic. To transition into 5G, India
needs at least 16 times more fibre, according to estimates by STL, a technology
company specialised in optical fibers and cables.
What is Ferberization?
* The infrastructure needed for such a rollout requires existing radio towers to be
connected via optical-fibre cables. The process of connecting radio towers with each
other via optical fibre cables is called fiberisation. 
* In India, currently only 33% of the towers are fiberised, compared to the
65%-70% in South Korea and 80%-90% in the U.S., Japan and China, according to a
2021 report by India Infrastructure Research. Ideally, a country needs 1.3 km of fibre
per capita to ensure good fiberisation. India’s fkm is just .09 compared to 1.35 in
Japan, 1.34 in the U.S. and 1.3 in China, the report noted.
* To reach the targeted level of fiberisation, India requires about ₹2.2 lakh crore of
investment to help fiberise 70% towers.
May lead to Data theft and cyber attack:
* The increased risk of hacking of data is one of the immediate concerns of 5G.
Hackers can use mobile and external IP networks for spying and stealing data. This
could be a potential means for cyberattacks. 
* The risk also increases as more and more poorly secured IoT devices are used.
These devices transfer trillions of bytes of data every day and have personally sensitive
information of users.  
communication interface:
* 5G also interferes with airplanes' radio altimeters, which give readings of the
height above the ground during a flight's approach.
Others:
* BSNL not participated in the bidding process is raising question on the self
relaince.
 * Though allowing 100% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector under the
automatic route along with these policy reforms, it doesn’t attract any external Mobile
network players in the bidding process
* With having Data protection law, it may further added an fuel into the fire of data
theft, Hacking, phishing, cyber attack etc.
 Way forward
Encourage fibre and Chip set production and availability
* Networking equipment that relies on optical fibre and other
semiconductor-based device ecosystems are at the heart of building the
infrastructure that will be needed when the country takes the next step in its digital
journey. 
* The need of the hour is to unlock the full potential of India’s optical fibre
industry and enable India to emerge as a major manufacturing and technology hub
while achieving atmanirbharta in its 5G journey by PLIS.
Ensure Digital inclusion:
* widespread use of optical fibre in the remotest corners of the country is vital to
ensure that no one is left behind in this endeavour. Ensure 100% OFN in Rural areas
through Bharat net Program.
Ensure Investment:
* India needs to invest in R&D, offer production-linked incentive schemes to
support indigenous high-tech manufacturing and develop intellectual property in
critical aspects of digital connectivity. 
Encourage satellite communication:
* To overcome fiberiation and tower cost, Satellite communication can provide
high-capacity backhaul connectivity to large numbers of edge servers over wide areas,
thereby complementing the terrestrial network with cost-effective scalability.
* Satellite communication can facilitate 5G broadband connectivity to
underserved areas where it is not feasible to deploy terrestrial infrastructure like
remote villages, islands or mountainous regions.
* Satellite-based networks are the only means for delivering 5G broadband to
users on board moving vessels, including cars, ships, airplanes and high-speed
trains. 
* Space-based backhaul will also provide disaster relief services, support
emergency response teams as well as deliver broadband connectivity for one-off
entertainment or sports events anywhere in the world.
Encourage more startups:
* To encourage that the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat is followed when it comes to
the 5G rollout, there is a need to work closely with startups/MSMEs, academia,
telecom service providers and the industry in the setting up of labs that can research
and develop new use cases for 5G, keeping in mind adequate safeguards. 
Ensure Data localisation:
* Ensure data localisation of sensitive personal data especially banks and payment
services.
Attract PPP model:
As the deployment of 5G network is expensive, both the Central and State
governments may need to consider measures which stimulate fibre investment, attract
investment through public private partnerships (PPPs) and facilitate investment funds
on a nominal interest basis.
Ensure Transparency and rationalise tax:
The Government also needs to address information asymmetry and negative
externalities through laws and regulations/taxes and subsidies
 Further, removing the tax burden for deploying fibre networks reduces associated
costs, thereby promoting investment as was done by Singapore government, could help
in the smooth deployment of fibre in India.