As India is looking at a future embracing 5G technology, it is crucial to get the existing internet speeds in order. Currently, the minimum-mandated internet speed in the country is just 512Kbps, which is far lesser than global speeds which float around 50-70Mbps. In order to boost the internet speed on mobile and broadband networks, the government is looking at increasing the mandatory speed to at least 2Mbps and more.

Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said that the government was mindful of slow internet speed experienced by internet users in many parts of the country. Even as there is widespread adoption of 4G and a significant chunk of the population is moving towards 3G, there lies a significant gap between what is promised and what is delivered when it comes to internet speeds.

“We are very slow. While we have done a lot on (providing internet) access, we have not been able to actually deliver the quality of service that is required,” Sundararajan told ToI. “2Mbps is the basic minimum. We should definitely mandate this. If at all, it should be higher than that. It cannot be lower than that,” the telecom secretary is further quoted as saying.

The telecom secretary further said that the country needs faster speed in the wake of the gradual transformation of the country to a digital economy. These include initiatives such as smart cities, Digital India programs, efforts on digital payments, and 5G.

The statement comes in wake of the recently concluded India Mobile Congress, at the center of which were talks about implementing 5G in India. The next-gen technology looks at not only making high-speed internet access available but also intends to mass-introduce Internet of Things (IoT) applications. 

Reliance Jio‘s commercial launch of its 4G VoLTE services late last year has fueled the demand for high-speed, affordable internet access in the country. According to OpenSignal’s June report, the entry of Reliance Jio has pushed the entire country into greater LTE availability, but average 4G speeds have lowered. Based on the report, Singapore has the highest measured 4G speed at 46Mbps, and India stands embarrassingly low at just 5.14 Mbps. Meanwhile, the average 4G speeds in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Iran stand at 11.71Mbps, 10.42Mbps, and 10.24Mbps respectively.

Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in its ‘Consultation Paper on Data Speed Under Wireless Broadband Plans’ that incumbent telecom operators are averse to the idea of having a higher threshold for internet speeds, owing to a range of concerns, which include low coverage zones, high rise buildings, external factors such as device quality, peak time, transmission bandwidth, and website behavior among others. 

Airtel, which was the first incumbent telco to roll out 4G VoLTE services, is now gearing up to phase out 3G and convert its existing users to the new network. While heavy investments have been made by Airtel in 3G, which still accounts for nearly 60 percent of telco revenues, 4G is fast becoming the standard on mobile phones. The company plans to migrate all its 3G users across the country to VoLTE over the next few months, according to reports. However, no specific time-frame is known.

Airtel has close to 280 million users on its network and a majority of them are on 3G. Hence, a mass conversion would require efforts from the telco. “What we need is that every base site that we have, we need to add a new technology so that the rollout that we are doing currently is almost entirely on 4G. Our 3G rollout is over and I would say 3G in anyway in 2-3 years, we will have to shut it down. Our 3G network will also shift to 4G. And these are mostly software switches,” an official was quoted as saying.

This comes at a time when all Indian cellular operators, including Airtel, are investing in 5G technologies and partnering with international companies to make them ready for the next phase of telecom revolution. The Indian government too has set up a committee to further the cause. While 5G readiness is a priority, it is 4G that is likely to driver revenues for telcos in 2018. Experts estimate that about 85 percent of Indian smartphone users would be on 4G LTEnetworks by next year. 

Much of this shift has been triggered by Reliance Jio, which has made 4G truly accessible and affordable in the last one year. All telcos have been compelled to slash tariffs and offer potfuls of 4G data in order to curb the migration of subscribers to Jio network. As a result, both their toplines and bottomlines have suffered in 2017.  Now, communication and advertising to make 3G users switcgh to 4G LTE would likely incur more costs. But given that most smartphones shipped today are 4G-ready, and even feature phones are now 4G-enabled, it is imperative for networks to upgrade their users.

Qualcomm, at the 4G/5G summit in Hong Kong, announced the new Snapdragon 636 SoC for mid-range smartphones. The company claims is that the new chipset is 40 percent faster than the Snapdragon 630 SoC that was announced earlier this year. Qualcomm also announced that it has successfully tested a 5G data connection on its Snapdragon X50 5G modem chipset.

“Achieving the world’s first announced 5G data connection with the Snapdragon X50 5G modem chipset on 28GHz mmWave spectrum is truly a testament to Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership in 5G and extensive expertise in mobile connectivity. This major milestone and our 5G smartphone reference design showcase how Qualcomm Technologies is driving 5G NR in mobile devices to enhance mobile broadband experiences for consumers around the world,” said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and president, QCT. 

Qualcomm conducted the demonstration in its San Diego labs, and has also released a video. In the test, the new Snapdragon X50 5G modem chipset was able to achieve speeds of up to 1 gigabit (or 1,000 megabits) per second. This speed is many times faster compared to the current 4G LTE wireless networks on today’s smartphones. In the battle of next-gen mobile broadband, the high-speed 5G data will help Qualcomm up the ante against rivals such as Huawei and Intel. 

Now that the testing is successful, Qualcomm expects the commercial launch of 5G network and smartphones to begin starting first half of 2019. Sure, the launch timeline seems aggressive than many in the wireless industry would have envisioned. However, credit for the same goes to the changes announced by 3GPP, the body that governs cellular networks such as 5G. 

Besides announcing the successful test of 5G data connection, Qualcomm also announced its first mmWave 5G smartphone reference design, which will allow the chipmaker to test and optimize the 5G mmWave performance.

{BGR}

Bharti Airtel has announced the deployment of the country’s first Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology that is a key enabler for 5G networks. India joins a select group of countries in the world that have deployed this advanced technology. In the first round, the services would be deployed in Bengaluru and Kolkata, and will later extend to other circles. The deployment is part of Airtel’s ongoing network transformation program, Project Leap, in which it has invested Rs 60,000 crore.

It is estimated to increase carrier capacity by more than 5X, thereby making effective use of the current spectrum. Additionally, Airtel customers will enjoy 2-3 times faster data speeds on their existing 4G handsets without any upgrades or plan changes. Data speeds will now be seamless, offering enhanced user experience even indoors, in crowded places and in high-rises. “It would enable multiple users and multiple devices to work simultaneously without facing any congestion or experience issues especially at hotspot locations,” Airtel said in a statement.

Massive MIMO is essentially a pre-5G technology that readies a cellular network to meet the rising data demands. MIMO deployment uses multiple antennas that are located at both the source (transmitter), and destination (receiver). Those antennas are linked in order to minimize error and increase efficiency of a network. It creates 3D beams both on horizontal and vertical planes towards users located within its coverage area. Interestingly, massive MIMO uses green technology, thereby helping reduce carbon footprint. No other telecom operator in India has deployed this technology so far. 

This announcement comes shortly after Airtel tied up with Korea’s SK Telecom to build a high-tech, high-capacity 5G network. “India is fast striding towards exponential and unprecedented data growth.  Our latest deployment of Massive MIMO will help us serve this demand and would also give an impetus to build a future ready network. The deployment gives us a strategic advantage to provide faster speeds and enhanced user experience for our customers, thereby translating into improved spectrum efficiency,” Abhay Savargaonkar, Director – Networks, Bharti Airtel said.

Aiming to keep pace with the global rollout of 5G, the Indian government has set up a High-Level 5G India 2020 Forum, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said. “We want to keep pace with the global technology adoption. India does not want to stay behind in 5G rollout. That is the reason we have constituted this committee,” Sinha said here at a press meet.

“5G will enhance GDP, create employment and digitise the economy,” he added. The government will create a corpus of Rs 500 crore for 5G rollout.

The High-Level 5G Forum will have on board three secretaries from the Department of Telecommunications, IT and Electronics and Science and Technologies Ministries.

India will host its very-own mobile congress between September 27 and 29 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. In its first edition, the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017 will feature a three-day exhibition where prominent mobile manufacturers, internet solution providers, and telecom operators will showcase their technologies and products. With as many as 300 exhibitors lined up for the IMC, here’s a look at the top expected things.

Akin to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona edition, the India Mobile Congress is also expected to see Nokia as one of the key exhibitors. At the preview conference, Nokia’s Head of Marketing and Communication (CMO) Amit Marwah said that there will be up to 20 technology demonstrations at the event. This will also include the company’s OZO 360-degree virtual reality camera. In addition to the tech demos, all of Nokia’s latest phones will be on display. While Marwah did not explicitly mention, but we can expect the Nokia 8 to make its presence felt, along with the Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 3.

Nokia won’t be the only brand at IMC 2017. A range of other manufacturers – local and foreign – will also be present at the event. These include Micromax, Lava, and LG among others. 

India is rapidly pacing towards the adoption of 4G services, and now the time befits to start the chatter around the next-gen 5G services. IMC is said to be the platform facilitating talks, and showcasing of 5G solutions for consumers and enterprises. Recently, Airtel partnered South Korea’s SK Telecom to build 5G network for India. As Airtel is also one of the exhibitors at the event, we might see how the alliance is shaping up.

In line with Make in India, ISRO’s indigenous navigation satellite is under development. At IMC, the space agency will showcase the technology and detail the working of NavIC. The ‘desi’ navigation system is poised to compete with other navigation systems, including GPS (Global Positioning System), which is built by the US.

Among telecom operators, the PSU telecom operator will showcase its network services at the event. BSNL is also likely to detail its plans for 5G deployment in the country. VK Sharma at the preview conference said that by end of 2018, BSNL will also provide 5G services in the country. Idea Cellular, on the other hand, will be showcasing enterprise solutions that are built for India. 

Other than Nokia’s OZO, Qualcomm will also focus on the emerging virtual reality technology. The chipmaker, one of the key exhibitors at IMC, is likely to showcase technology or solutions built to accelerate the development, and adoption of VR in the consumer space.

Artificial intelligence, another technology which is fast expanding, will be demonstrated by IBM. The company is expected to detail its work in the field, and demo solutions for consumers and enterprises.

As COAI Chairman Rajan Mathews pointed during the media briefing, IoT is one of the immediate technological needs for India. At IMC, Internet of Things or IoT is said to hog plenty of limelight driven by the need and interest in the Indian context. From industry automation to consumer space, we might be able to witness companies showcasing their internet connected products and services. Some of these solutions will be targeted at the agricultural space in the country, and how to better it.

{BGR}