The past year has marked another important phase in India’s 5G journey. From rapid subscriber adoption and expanding network coverage to the growing use of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), the technology is moving beyond the initial roll-out phase and towards wider commercial adoption. India had 430 million 5G subscriptions at the end of 2025, accounting for 35 per cent of the total mobile subscriptions. The subscriber base is projected to cross 1.1 billion by 2031, representing 81 per cent penetration.
With coverage extending to virtually every district and the network passing the half-million-site mark, attention is turning to how the installed network can support new applications and generate greater value. A look at the noteworthy developments shaping India’s 5G journey over the past year…
From NSA to 5G-Advanced
India’s 5G networks are now moving from the initial non-stand-alone (NSA) phase towards stand-alone (SA) architecture, which is important for unlocking the more advanced capabilities of 5G.
SA provides the foundation for network slicing, RedCap, lower-latency services and network exposure through application programming interfaces (APIs). It also enables voice over new radio, allowing voice calls to run directly over the 5G network.
The transition also sets the stage for 5G-Advanced, with 3GPP Releases 18 and 19 building on 5G and Release 20 beginning to lay the foundation for 6G. The technology road map includes improvements in mobility, coverage, uplink performance and multiple-input multiple-output, alongside RedCap, satellite integration, edge computing and greater use of network APIs and open gateway capabilities.
5G-Advanced will have to accommodate increasingly diverse network requirements, including those created by AI workloads distributed across devices, edge locations, data centres and the cloud. This will require networks capable of handling different latency, bandwidth and processing requirements.
Monetising 5G
After several years of significant 5G investment, Indian operators are entering a phase where the priority is to generate returns from networks already built. With 5G coverage reaching most of the country, operators are now looking to improve capacity and customer experience while developing new revenue streams.
The difficulty is that 5G adoption has not automatically translated into higher revenues. Unlimited 5G plans and relatively low tariffs have left operators with limited scope to charge a premium simply for 5G access. The industry is, therefore, looking beyond basic connectivity towards premium plans, differentiated quality and speed tiers, content bundles, FWA and usage-based services.
This requires a shift from selling connectivity to selling solutions. There is a need for an enterprise-focused framework, simpler licensing and compliance processes, and closer participation by technology companies and system integrators. Many of the enterprise use cases are still developing, so the challenge is not to find a single “killer application” but to build multiple revenue streams around 5G.
Net neutrality returns
The debate around net neutrality has resurfaced as 5G networks begin to support more differentiated services. The issue is closely linked to network slicing, which allows operators to create virtual sections of the same physical network with different levels of speed, latency, reliability and security for different applications or users.
The discussion gained fresh attention with Airtel’s Fast Lane, a service that allows users to receive higher speeds during periods of network congestion. The development has raised questions over whether differentiated network performance should be treated as a premium service or if it could amount to preferential treatment of certain traffic.
The issue becomes more complicated with enterprise 5G. Network slicing is expected to allow operators to offer dedicated connectivity for applications that require specific performance levels, including low latency or high reliability. Such services could be particularly relevant for industries using 5G for critical operations, but they also raise questions about how far operators should be allowed to differentiate traffic and services.
India’s existing net neutrality framework is based on the principle that internet service providers should not discriminate between content, applications or services. The growing use of slicing and differentiated services is now testing how those principles apply to newer 5G capabilities.
The government has, therefore, started looking at whether the existing framework needs to be revisited in light of technological changes. In August 2026, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India floated a draft framework, bringing the issue back into focus as operators move towards more programmable networks.
The debate is likely to become more important as 5G-Advanced brings greater network programmability and operators look for new ways to offer differentiated services. The challenge for policymakers will be to allow operators to make use of these capabilities without undermining the open-access principles on which India’s net neutrality framework is based.
5G meets AI
The relationship between 5G and AI has strengthened over the past year as India’s 5G network has moved to a scale where AI can be used both on the network and through the network.
The first side of this equation is networks for AI. AI workloads are increasingly being distributed between devices, edge locations, data centres and the cloud, creating demand for high bandwidth and low latency. The other side is AI for networks, where operators use AI for traffic forecasting, fault detection, predictive maintenance, network optimisation, dynamic spectrum management and energy management.
For operators, AI is also becoming an operational tool rather than simply another service to sell. AI, combined with 5G, has been helping in improving customer experience, creating AI-driven revenue streams and improving network planning and operations. Other applications include fraud and scam detection, cybersecurity, compliance monitoring and continuous monitoring of quality of service and service level agreements.
For India, the convergence is taking place alongside the IndiaAI Mission, Bharat 6G Alliance and the Semiconductor Mission, giving the country an opportunity to develop connectivity, compute and AI capabilities simultaneously. The immediate change is already visible inside telecom networks, but the larger opportunity lies in using 5G and AI together for various other sectors.
Private 5G
Enterprise applications have remained one of the key areas of interest for 5G. However, India’s interest in private 5G is yet to translate into deployments at the scale seen in Germany, Japan, South Korea and China. A key issue has been the lack of a clear framework for direct enterprise spectrum access.
The Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) June 2025 demand survey drew criticism because private 5G requirements are largely site-specific. Industry proposals included 100 MHz in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band or 400 MHz in mmWave through administrative allocation, along with spectrum access for system integrators and technology companies. The survey’s Rs 1 billion net worth criterion was also seen as potentially excluding smaller technology-intensive enterprises.
The issue extends beyond DoT. Many potential deployments involve sectors such as industry, railways, ports, power, urban infrastructure and agriculture, making coordination between DoT and other ministries critical. The industry has also argued that system integrators should have a larger role because private 5G deployments involve more than connectivity– enterprises need the network, devices, software, applications and integration to work together.
There is already a sizeable potential market. As per industry estimates, India could have more than 2,000 industrial private 5G networks by 2030, representing an annual market of more than $2.5 billion-$3 billion. However, this estimate depends heavily on regulatory clarity and the ability to move beyond individual pilots.
India has no shortage of potential applications or market demand. The more immediate issue is whether the policy framework can move private 5G beyond test beds and pilots towards repeatable commercial deployments.
The fibre gap
India’s rapid 5G roll-out has exposed a gap in the infrastructure connecting mobile sites to the wider network. The country had 530,945 5G base transceiver stations as of March 31, 2026, but only around 44-46 per cent of base stations were fiberised.
The transport requirements of 5G are also greater than those of earlier networks. The shift to fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul, or xHaul, requires higher capacity and lower latency, particularly as networks move towards centralised and open radio access network (RAN) architectures. Front-haul requirements can include latency below 100 microseconds and at least 25 Gbps per 5G cell site, making fibre increasingly important to support network performance.
Expanding fibre connectivity, however, remains difficult because of right-of-way (RoW) approvals, road-cutting permissions and municipal processes, with the implementation of the RoW Rules, 2024, varying across states. The challenge will become more significant as networks move towards 5G-Advanced and denser small cell deployments.
In sum
India’s 5G story is entering a more interesting phase. It is paving the way for questions such as: What will people and businesses actually use these networks for, which applications will stick and where will the next wave of investment come from? There may not be a single defining use case. The next few years could see 5G gradually becoming part of a much wider digital infrastructure, supporting everything from industrial networks to AI-led applications. The shift will take time, but it will ultimately determine the success of India’s 5G journey.
