Jio, with tons of cash flow from recent investments across the globe is in a better financial shape and they can't wait to get their hands on 5G airwaves to be the pioneer of 5G in the country.
Device Ecosystem:
Unlike 4G, 5G has a better ecosystem today even before the launch of 5G in India, compared to that in 2012 when Airtel first launched a commercial 4G service in Kolkata. Since February 2020 India has seen 5G-NR (new radio) supported smartphones are being launched in the market by one by one. Device ecosystem is getting stronger day by day.
Google is a tech partner and strategic investor in Reliance Jio. Google, Qualcomm and Jio have been working on several phones - I guess all will be supporting 5G. Some report says Jio and Google may launch their first phone in first half of 2021. Jio also have made agreements with Indian handset makers like Karbonn, Lava and Micromax to create a robust 5G device supply chain.
Here the major concern is over the bands the phones are supporting. We don't know how 5G is going to be implemented in India. So I personally is not going to spend extra bucks for 5G support on a smartphone.
Technology Ecosystem:
Jio announced they are working on a home grown 5G solution and that indigenous 5G RAN (Radio Access Network) network has achieved 1Gbps speeds in trials. And for being a pureplay 4G operator, Jio will have minimum expenditure to make its 5G networks operational, as the upgradation will be mostly by software update.
Jio has received lots of investments from American companies as well as American tech giants like Intel, Google and Qualcomm. It's so obvious that Jio will not use any China made components in its core network.
In the same event of IMC 2020, Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal share his thoughts regarding Jio's indigenous 5G project, as he explains that India specific 5G standard may be 'an existential threat which could lock India out of the global ecosystem and slow down the pace of innovation.' He explains further that CDMA, despite a better technology died while GSM won the race being at par with global standards.
So Jio has been ticking the all points - device, technology but the main concern remains - that's spectrum. And Fitch Ratings predicts India's 5G spectrum sale could be delayed if the government focuses on a 4G auction in the year 2021.
Threat from Satellite Internet
Reliance will also face Amazon in this field, as they are already in battles to capture Indian retail market. FYI Reliance Industries is all set to acquire Future Retail in spite of Amazon's objection.
Jio's present 4G network might not be as good as the satellite internet services. They need to upgrade - and next obvious step is 5G.
Soon India's satellite internet space will be crowded as not only Bharti Global backed OneWeb but Tesla owner Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink project and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’s Project Kuiper have plans for commerical rollout globally and may be launched in India as government allows satellite internet. Earlier Kuipers has its focus to US only, and targeted for 2026 launch, but I guess they have changed their focus recently.
Patricia Cooper, Vice President, Satellite Government Affairs at SpaceX said in the filing, “While existing telecommunications networks have performed well to meet [internet access] needs in many areas, billions that live in the most rural and remote areas, and even those in urban environments, remain on the wrong side of the digital divide. Powerful next-generation satellite systems flying today that can reach all corners of the country with high-speed, affordable service are critical to bridging this gap.”
Starlink with its 893 satellites (til date) in orbit has started beta testing with customers in the US for $99 a month, plus $499 for a setup kit since September, 2020. Starlink targets to provide data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. They also informed that there will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.
This low orbit and mid orbit satellite constellation system will provide faster internet and low latency. Viasat and HughesNet are two satellite internet providers in US and their latency ranges 594-624 ms, while max speed 80-100 Mbps on Viasat, while HughesNet's max speed upto 25Mbps. Their satellites are approximately 35,405 kilometres (22,000 miles) away from Earth, while Starlink satellites orbit 550 kilometres (340 miles) from the Earth’s surface - data travels shorter, and hence speed is higher and latency is lower.
But the interesting point is in November '20 Methera has signed MoU with Indian government backed Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL) to build ground stations in India in India and outside for next 3 years. Though there is no definite update regarding the timeline of Indian launch, Methera will not give a damn to this heavy populated market.
From the above discussions, it is quite sure that India's digital space can see a game changer with sat-net, as it will kill all the issues with last mile connectivity. Good for rural, remote areas, satellite internet can also be helpful in densely populated areas, as the Methera wants to target this segment with its MEO (medium earth orbit) satellites.
Google's parent company Alphabet which was running trials of internet offering in Andra Pradesh (partnering AP Fibernet) over variable terrains with its Project Taara since 2017 and also in Africa. Project Taara, which is now under the company X (X Development LLC., formerly Google X) was developed as a part of Google's Project Loon. Loon uses high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere at an altitude of 18 km - 25 km to create an aerial wireless network with up to 1 Mbit/s speeds. Using wireless optical communication they were able to create a data link between balloons that were flying over 100 km apart.
The engineers at Google thought to bring it to ground level. Like fiber, but without the cables, Taara uses light to transmit information at super high speeds through the air as a very narrow, invisible beam between two terminals distanced of 20Km. In 2020, Google wants to bring Taara as full phased project in India, for that Google is in talks with leading telcos of the country, Airtel and Reliance Jio. Taara would be covering remotest areas to solve the last mile connectivity issues.
** Look for the satellites in the sky in your location: https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/
** The Train of SpaceX Satellites in the Sky -
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