The Indian telecom sector has witnessed significant growth post the Covid-19 pandemic, which triggered a demand for digital tools and communication solutions. The government’s focus on transforming the sector and stakeholder efforts to upgrade telecom networks and digital infrastructure have also given a fillip to the sector. And now, with 5G services set to be rolled out, a range of opportunities are opening up for players across the telecom value chain.
Evolving telecom landscape
The telecom sector growth has been facilitated by various government initiatives, key among them being the telecom reform package introduced in 2021 and the 5G spectrum auctions conducted recently. The reforms provided a much-needed relief, covering the structural, procedural and liquidity aspects. They helped the industry stabilise and plan future investments. Meanwhile, the 5G spectrum auctions have set the stage for service roll-outs targeted at both consumers and enterprises in the near future.
Over the past year, telecom operators have been working on testing 5G use cases suitable for the Indian market. These use cases cover domains such as healthcare, education, agriculture, surveillance, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and fixed wireless access.
Beginning of the 5G era
In a bid to speed up 5G roll-outs in India, the government undertook a prompt allocation of 5G spectrum, right on the day of spectrum payment. The move undertaken by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was highly appreciated by the industry as it would enable India to quickly jump on the 5G bandwagon.
Telcos are now vying to get an early start in launching 5G services. In this regard, Reliance Jio has recently announced that it has completed 5G coverage planning in the top 1,000 cities while Airtel stated that it has network roll-out plans in place for 5,000 towns. With this, the country can expect 5G roll-outs to begin any time over the coming months.
A lot is happening on the private 5G network front as well, with DoT inviting participation in demand studies for direct assignment of spectrum to enterprises setting up captive non-public networks (CNPNs). To this end, DoT launched a module on the Saral Sanchar portal for carrying out demand studies. Enterprises that have a net worth of more than Rs 1 billion and are willing to set up CNPNs could participate in the exercise from August 10, 2022 to September 9, 2022.
Post the completion of these studies, India is expected to see new enterprise players setting up their own private 5G networks that would enable them to modernise their business operations and usher in new-age procedures in the enterprise space. Together, telcos and enterprises will help shape a robust 5G ecosystem that is capable of offering a world-class experience to both customers and enterprises.
Stepping up digital infrastructure deployments
The government has also been taking key steps to scale up infrastructure deployments for 5G network roll-outs. It recently announced certain amendments to the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2016 to expedite the upgradation of telecom networks and bring down the time and cost of telecom infrastructure deployment. These amendments include rationalising the administrative charges levied on operators for securing RoW permissions, introducing a single-window clearance system for RoW approvals, and setting a ceiling for RoW charges for installing 5G small cells and optical fibre cable (OFC) on street furniture. The amended rules are expected to enhance the deployment of telecom infrastructure in the country and help in the proliferation of 5G services.
Further, a 5G RoW application form has been launched on the Gati Shakti Sanchar portal. This will facilitate the setting up of digital infrastructure and deployment of small cells, aerial fibre and street furniture. There is a need to further increase the capacity of telecom networks to prepare for the surge in data growth expected post the commercial roll-out of 5G services. While the current capacity per tower site is about 1 Gbps for 2G/3G/4G services, the capacity needed for each site will increase to 10-20 Gbps once 5G kicks in. To achieve capacities of 10-20 Gbps, there is a need to deploy small cells across all tower sites.
With small cells paving the way, fiberisation will be key. Despite India being the second-largest telecommunications market globally, the fibre kilometre (fkm) per capita in India is much less than that in several other key markets. India has approximately 3.3 million km of OFC and 35.11 per cent of towers are currently fiberised. About 70 per cent of the towers need to be fiberised by 2024 to cater to 5G services. The investment required in India for incremental tower fiberisation will be Rs 520 billion-Rs 595 billion.
As per estimates, there are over 700,000 4G base transceiver stations in the country that will need to be augmented to 5G. Additional sites will also be needed for densification of the network over the next couple of decades.
Satcom opportunities
Satellite communication (Satcom) is also poised to become a mainstream digital connectivity solution for bridging the digital divide. In a major move, Hughes Communications India Private Limited recently announced the commercial launch of high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband services in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This represents not only the country’s first HTS broadband service, but also the first such public-private partnership (PPP) initiative undertaken in the satcom space, reflecting the government’s growing optimism and encouragement for PPP projects in satcom.
The HTS broadband service reportedly combines Ku-band capacity from ISRO’s GSAT-11 and GSAT-29 satellites with Hughes’ JUPITER platform ground technology. The combined technology will enable the delivery of high speed broadband across India, including remote areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.
Another key development has been the grant of a letter of intent (LoI) by DoT to Jio Satellite Communications Limited (JSCL), the satcom arm of Reliance Jio, for global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) services. The grant of the LoI will enable JSCL to set up and operate GMPCS services in its licensed service areas and provide high speed broadband-from-space services.
Going forward, the introduction of the national spacecom policy is expected to provide a framework for organisations operating in the satcom domain to introduce robust and effective satellite broadband services via a prudent and proportionate mix of low earth orbit and middle earth orbit satellites, along with existing geostationary satellites in play.
The future is digital
Net, net, the telecom sector is brimming with opportunity. In particular, the roll-out of 5G services will revolutionise the digital space. Not only will it bring about a major change in the consumer and enterprise domains, it will also provide a major fillip to next-generation technologies such as internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, robotics and blockchain. These technologies are expected to lead to a new digital era, which will drive India’s digital growth and help the country in meeting its target of becoming a $5 trillion economy.