5G propels Digital India's watershed moment

Despite challenges, India's telecom market shows promising signs for the 5G rollout, with the potential to become a leading global market

- ANITA SOMANI

The Economic Survey 2022-23 stated that the rollout of 5G services in India can unleash new economic opportunities and help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovation through startups and established businesses and advance the Digital India vision.

Since the 1980s, when 1G was introduced, the country has come a long way from the bulky phones and communication that was limited to a few people for professional purposes. 2G brought in the demand for personal use, and 3G ushered in phones that could fit in one's pocket. 4G gave India fast-streaming smartphones, app stores and video streaming and 5G is going to be a game changer that would reshape both our professional and personal lives by enabling new use cases like connected vehicles, augmented reality (AR), enhanced video and gaming, among several others.

India's digital transformation journey has been spectacular. While its initial phases were marred by delayed deployments of the latest mobile telephony (there was a gap of around six years between the auction and mass deployment of 4G waves) and regulatory and other roadblocks, the ecosystem came together and 5G is witnessing a comparatively quicker and smoother rollout. Government initiatives like Digital India have also helped in the transformation.

All these factors have led to an exponential increase in demand for data in India. Accelerated by low tariffs and easy availability of low-cost 4G smartphones, India's mobile-first broadband has witnessed tremendous growth.

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