New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the 5G network service at the 6th India Mobile Congress in New Delhi. The upgraded telecom apparatus, which is largely restricted to 4G till now, is gradually expected to create a nationwide network, enabling users to unlock further services and faster connectivity.
Following are 10 key points you need to know about the event, 5G, and where it can go from here:
- Speaking at the event, which will be going on between October 1 and 4 in New Delhi's Pragati Maidan, the Prime Minister highlighted 5G as the beginning of technology which will see India not just as a consumer, but also playing "an active role in the development and implementation of technology". While 2G, 3G and 4G telecom services saw India reliant on others in order to avail them, 5G will see the country being known for its contributions to the development and implementations of the new-age tech, he noted.
- The PM also made a point about cost-effectiveness. Keeping in focus India's change from a nation 'exporting zero mobile phones' in 2014 to a mobile phone exporting country worth thousands of crores' currently, Modi said the availability had led to lower costs and more features.
- Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani hailed 5G as the foundation of other 21st-century technology such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of things, robotics, blockchain, and the metaverse. Ambani noted that education and skill development as well as improvement in the health sector, including the development of rural and urban hospitals, were his key goal.
- Accompanied by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and telecom conglomerate owners Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Bharti Mittal, and Kumar Mangalam Birla, PM Modi proceeded to pavilions of several operators to check out end-to-end 5G technology, and in the process tried out the application of what appeared to be Augmented Reality.
- Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said the company would be rolling out 5G services in eight cities by today. Which cities are to be included in the coverage plan, however, has not yet been confirmed, although it is expected that metro cities such as Mumbai and Delhi are on the list. Airtel has further said that it plans to complete the 5G rollout by March 2024.
- Reliance Jio, meanwhile, is set to bring four metro cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata - under 5G coverage by Diwali this year. The announcement to this effect was made by Ambani at Reliance Industries' annual shareholder meeting back in August. The former had also announced that the company was committed to delivering high-speed internet to all Indians by December 2023.
- Ahead of the event, Ashwini Vaishnaw, while speaking to the media, informed that 5G services would be available in 200 cities across the nation within the next six months. He noted that BSNL would begin its 5G rollout starting August 15, 2023.
- The India Mobile Congress has been organized jointly by the Department of Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India. A statement by COAI thanked the PM for launching 5G services. COAI Director General Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar termed the new-age tech as the road map for India's socio-economic development.
- The recently held 5G spectrum auction saw bids amounting to a total of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, wherein Reliance Jio put forward an Rs 88,078 crore bid.
- Uses of a 5G connection are manifold, including but not limited to executing super-fast downloads through low-latency networks, powering metaverse as well as other immersive experiences and technological usage in the health and medicine sector.
