5G rollout expected in next fiscal but only one third of mobile towers fiberized

India’s leading telecom players are gearing to roll out the fifth generation of telecom services sometime in the next financial year which is starting tomorrow (April 1) but as per the latest data shared by the government, only one-third of mobile towers in the country have been fiberized (ready to use fiber-based technologies) that is crucial for a successful rollout of the next-gen telecom services.

New Delhi: India’s leading telecom players are gearing to roll out the fifth generation of telecom services sometime in the next financial year which is starting from tomorrow (April 1) but as per the latest data shared by the government, only one-third of mobile towers in the country have been fiberized (ready to use fiber-based technologies) that is crucial for a successful rollout of the next-gen telecom services.

In response to a question by Congress member Manish Tewari, minister of state for telecom, Devusinh Chauhan informed the Lok Sabha that telecom companies were planning to roll out 5G telecom services in the country sometime between April this year and March 2023.

“The rollout of 5G mobile services is likely during the year 2022-23 by Telecom Service Providers(TSPs),” Chauhan told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In response to Tiwari’s question about the total number of mobile towers that have been fiberized (have been enabled to work on optical fiber-based technologies), the minister said little over 34% of all mobile towers have been fiberized in the country.

As per the data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha, there are 23,10,535 mobile towers in the country and 7,90,434 have been fiberized by telecom companies, which is 34.2% of the total mobile towers in the country.

What is mobile tower fiberization?

In simple terms, fiberization means the connection of mobile towers with optical fibers that are needed to handle the massive surge in data that is anticipated with the launch of the fifth-generation telecom services such as the Internet of Things (IoT) among others.

Talking about the low fiberization of mobile towers in the country ahead of the rollout, the minister said it depends on telecom service providers.

“The investment for rolling out of 5G services by the TSPs depends on their techno-commercial considerations,” he told the Lok Sabha.

Uneven mobile tower fiberization

As per the data shared by the government, states showed huge variation in the level of fiberization of telecom towers located in their area. For instance, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a very high level of fiberization with over 72%, on the other hand, Lakshadweep has zero fiberization of mobile towers.

In the case of crucial markets like the national capital Delhi, the level of fiberization of the mobile towers was just 38%, 4% more than the national average of 34% whereas in West Bengal, which is an economically backward state, the level of mobile tower fiberization was also above the national average at 35%.

In Ladakh, it is 55.7% and in India’s most populous state it is below 30%. ]