Mumbai : Days after pegging that fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology would be a USD 27.3-billion opportunity for Indian telcos by 2026, mobile technology major Ericsson on Friday demonstrated the new technology, delivering a speed of 5.7 gigabyte per second. The prevalent fourth-generation (4G) networks in the country are reportedly found to be offering an average speed of 6.13 megabytes per second.
The Indian government wants to introduce 5G by 2020. Ericsson claimed this is the first-ever live demonstration of a 5G network in the country which was done using its 5G test bed and 5G NR radio. “The demonstration using Ericsson’s 5G test bed delivers a throughput of 5.7Gbps and ultra-low latency of three milliseconds,” it said in a statement.
Ericsson’s head for Southeast Asia Nunzio Mirtillo said the firm was getting ready for the 5G-play given the Indian government’s vision to introduce new generation services by 2020. The company had recently come out with a report saying India will have over 10 million 5G subscriptions by 2023 and had also pegged the total revenue potential to be USD 27.3 billion by 2026.
This will be over and above a USD 63-billion revenue estimated to come from traditional services, it said. “Introduction of 5G technology will bring a new level of performance and characteristics to the telecom networks enabling new services and creating new ecosystems. New revenue streams will open for operators as they go beyond being connectivity and infrastructure providers, to become service enablers and service creators,” Ericsson India managing director Nitin Bansal said. The largest opportunity will be in sectors like manufacturing, energy and utilities followed by public safety and the health sectors, the company said. Agriculture will be a USD 400-million opportunity from 5G with applications like field monitoring and mapping, livestock routing and monitoring, it said. Retail will be a USD 1.15 billion opportunity by 2026 as 5G can be used for revolutionizing customer experience and increase operational efficiencies, it said.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had in August issued a consultation paper seeking industry views on spectrum auctions in the future, which may see the debut of 5G airwaves being sold, reports PTI.
