Need more time for 5G rollout: Telecom secy

The country needs more time to launch fifth-generation (5G) technology in its telecom network, according to Aruna Sundararajan, head of the Telecom Commission and secretary to the department of telecommunications. At least another year is needed to have a 4G network across different parts, she said.

“First, India needs to move from 3G to 4G, and that I think we are beginning to see, with (Reliance) Jio coming in and other major players also accepting to upgrade their networks. We hope that over the next year, most of the telecom infrastructure and networks in India will be upgraded to 4G. The big 5G rollouts, etc, are still some time away,” she said on Thursday at the Internet of Things (IoT) India Congress 2017 here.

“Having said that, the important thing is to get the ecosystem growing to 5G — none of these happens overnight, the standards have to be available much in advance, the manufacturing of devices has to happen much in advance...this is a preparatory period for all of us to get ready.”

Telecom operators, analysts say, have seen a sharp rise in operating cost, with increasing debt. This, and delayed adoption of 4G, could impact the rollout of 5G. Higher telecom spectrum prices, compared with global markets such as the US, have also impacted the growth of operators and implementation of advanced network services.

Sundararajan said a 5G test bed is being developed by the Indian Institute of Technology at Chennai, with the Indian Institute of Information Technology at Hyderabad working on similar projects. Her department, she added, had started focusing on some of the international standards in this regard.