With 5G technology, Indian service providers have got ample of opportunities. Many experts believe that India has fastest large-scale deployment of 5G infrastructure in the world.
First Jio or Airtel started with OpenRAN architecture - where hardware is kept compatible with other softwares too (like you bought HP laptop, which comes with Windows, but you uninstalled it, and installed Ubuntu Linux).
BSNL 5G by mid-2024
India's telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, by the end of May, announced that BSNL 4G will go live in 2 months, and 5G upgrade will be started in November-December of 2023, and 5G from BSNL will go masses by March 2024 - which I personally believe unachievable. BSNL may launch 4G commercially at Q4 of 2023, and that home made 4G-5G stack BSNL is deploying will be upgraded to 5G/NR by middle of 2024.
On 7th June, 2023 Govt of India approved third revival package of Rs 89047 cr for BSNL.
As part of the revival package, BSNL has been allotted 4G/5G spectrum, as follows:
A. 10MHz in the 700MHz band for 22 LSAs worth Rs 46,338.60 crore,
B. 70MHz in 3300MHz band for 22 LSAs worth Rs 26,184.20 crores,
C. 800MHz in 21 LSAs and 650MHz in one LSA in the 26GHz band worth Rs 6,564.93 crore,
D. 20MHz in six LSAs and 10MHz in two LSAs in the 2500MHz band worth Rs 9,428.20 crore.
E. There is also a provision of Rs 531.89 crore for miscellaneous purposes
Earlier BSNL had received two revival packages in 2019 and 2022 regarding spectrum cost, VRS of employees, debt reconstruction purpose and merger with MTNL.
But many thinks spending taxpayers' money on BSNL would be another disaster just like Govt did with Air India, which was ultimately sold to Tata Group.
Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS), the homegrown engineering services arm of conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has partnered with BSNL for deploying private 5G networks for enterprises in India. Obviously BSNL will be the spectrum holder, while LTTS equipment, applications, servers, technology and software, and core for the integration of devices/sensors within customer's ecosystem.
As BSNL is yet to launch their commercial 4G network in India and 5G is a distant dream, despite Telecom minister's ambitious plan to launch BSNL 5G by December this year, I am skeptical about this partnership and how it would be. (June 26, 2023)
Vi - Missed First Bus of 5G, Losing Mobile Users
While we are enjoying unlimited 5G data from Jio and Airtel, both companies are experiencing more data usage per customers. That could pave them to generate more ARPU. Airtel in past took some measures to increase their ARPU by increasing the tariff marginally and by removing cheaper packs. And that's working in a way, so that Airtel could reach their target ARPU of Rs 200 in next 8-12 months.
While Vi without 5G, is losing customers day by day. TRAI data shows in February '23 Vi lost 20 lakh users, while Jio added 10L and Airtel added 9.8L new subscribers. The trend is more at metro or circle-A areas, where Vi has better market and also these market is high-revenue yielding circles. So by missing 5G bus, Vi has been hit by a vicious cycle - losing customers and decreasing ARPU.
Recently Vi approached to TRAI/DoT to ask Jio/Airtel to stop offering unlimited 5G data. But my point is when you are not a part of a game, why being bothered off?
By June-end and July beginning, Vi's vendors, Ericsson and Nokia refused to supply 5G equipment to Vi as previous pending are yet pending.
5G-NTN
5G space is getting excited by another new domain - that's 5G NTN (Non Terrestrial Network). The basic idea of 5G NTN is to deliver 5G/NR service via satellite or other airborne platform (like Google Balloons or Project Loon).
Earlier I wrote regarding the competition between 5G and satellite broadband will be inevitable. But they can synergize to create a better internet connectivity in the country.
Now they again loggerheads on the right of 28GHz spectrum band. Amazon backed Project Kuiper, OneWeb, Starlink, Telesat, Hughes who will launch satellite broadband in coming days in the country voted for reservation of this band for satellite connectivity, and they are very much vocal about it, as responded to TRAI's consultation paper. The satcom companies takes example of US, South Korea, Japan and Thailand where 5G over 28GHz is not successful or government of those countries take a stand to use that band of spectrum only for satellite communications.
Interestingly Jio and Vi wants that spectrum as technology neutral - mixed or flexible usage of spectrum. While Airtel, promoter of OneWeb notes that mmWave spectrum on 26GHz band got lukewarm response in the last auction and therefore they opine for keeping that band for satellite use.
It should be noted that has granted Jio Satellite Communications Ltd (JSCL) the LoI (letter of intent) for global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) services. JSCL is a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Luxembourg-based SES, established in October 2021.
Wipro's 5G Center in Austin, Texas
On June 15, 2023 Wipro Limited, a leading technology services and consulting company, announced the opening of its new 5G-Def-i Innovation Center (“the Center”) in Austin, Texas, underscoring the company’s commitment to helping clients realize the benefits of 5G technology through safer, more sustainable, and compliant products and services. Palo Alto Networks will collaborate with Wipro here.
6G Research Lab by Capgemini
On May 24, 2023 Capgemini has announced the launch of a 6G research lab in Gurugram, India. The lab will build advanced test beds and simulators to explore use cases for next-generation wireless networks, 6G ideation, and the creation of energy saving solutions.
htc 5G Hub
HTC almost left Indian smartphone market, but that's not the end. HTC has introduced HTC 5G Hub for upcoming 5G dominated market in India. It is a WiFi Hotspot with 5G support but more than it. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset with Snapdragon X50 5G modem (up to 2.63 Gbps downlink. Uplink 287 Mbps), 4G RAM, 32GB ROM with upto 512GB extended memory, Bluetooth™ 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad, Up to 20 Wi-Fi connections, 7660mAh battery.
Link: https://www.htc.com/in/5g/htc-5g-hub/
Pricing and availability - unknown
Jio 5G updates:
By the end of June '23, Jio True 5G has reached 6,000 cities and towns while Airtel 5G plus is present in over 3.500.
Jio is aggressive to complete nationwide 5G coverage by end of 2023, and to get funds, Jio is in advanced talks for securing syndicated offshore loans worth nearly USD4 billion from Citi, HSBC, and JP Morgan, among others. The majority of the proceeds will be used to accelerate 5G deployment. To facilitate the offshore loans extended to Jio, Finnvera, a European export credit agency, will issue guarantees to the global lenders.
Jio has signed a deal with Ericsson for 5G equipments. The valuation could be worth $2.1 billion.
Jio will also sign similar deal with Nokia worth $ 1.7 billion. In October last year Nokia got a multi-year deal from Jio to supply 5G-RAN equipment from Nokia's comprehensive AirScale portfolio.
From July 7, 2023 Jio is all set to sell its Bharat 4G phones - target is to eliminate 2G from India. There will be two phones - Jio Bharat V2 and Jio Bharat K1 Karbonn - both priced at Rs 999. Also Jio adds a special plan for these phones - Rs 123 monthly recharge will give daily 500 GB data & unlimited calls.
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