5G in India: Everything You Need to Know
Feb. 4, 2021Here, we are going to discuss all three major telecom operators in India — Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea — and what their 5G gameplan is. But before that, I would strongly recommend you to go through our article on5G bands: sub-6GHz and mmWaveto fully understand what kind of 5G services are coming to India.
I am going to start with Jio as it’s currently the largest telecom operator in India and it’s being touted to bring the “true” 5G to the masses. First, let’s talk about what information is already available in the public domain. So far, Reliance has shown interest in offering 5G services in both mid-band and high-frequency mmWave bands. Reliance is looking to buy the 3.5GHz frequency band for mid-band 5G services and24GHz and 26GHz for premium, gigabit 5G services.Source: Qualcomm
Looking at the choice, it’s clear Reliance wants touse the sub-6GHz channelto bring 5G services and not just relying on 4G spectrums to offer “improved” 5G services to users. As for mmWave, 24GHz and 26GHz frequency bands mean you will get unparalleled speed on Jio’s network.
Having said all of that, the important question remains: will the 5G deployment of Jio be Standalone (SA) or Non-standalone (NSA)? Will it use its existing 4G infrastructure to offer 5G services? Well, this is where things get really exciting. Jio is claiming that it will bring “true” 5G meaning itwill deploy SA 5Gwhere the core, radio, and antennas — all will be built on 5G architecture. That’s an astounding claim since major carriers all over the world have shown hesitance in deploying SA 5G since it’s prohibitively expensive.
On top of that, Jio is claiming that it has built “indigenous 5G tech” which is hard to believe on the face. So let’s start with each claim and dissect what approach Reliance is taking to bring SA 5G in India. There are several ways to deploy 5G within SA and NSA modes, starting with Option 1 to Option 7. Jio is said to beusing “Option 6”where the radio network and antennas are on 5G architecture, but still uses the 4G core, also called the EPC (Evolved Packet Core).A Snapshot from Satish Jamadagni’s Presentation at TSDSI
Now coming to the “made in India 5G solution” claim, there is no clear picture as to how Jio is pulling this. In terms of 5G patents,Jio only has a total of 29 patents(not just 5G) whereas Huawei has over 3000 5G patents, followed by Samsung and ZTE standing around the 2800 mark. So it begs the question, how is Reliance asserting that it has built a 5G solution from scratch as it requires years of research and development?Source: Statista
According toLivemint, Reliance is perhaps buying components from partners like Nokia and Ericsson and building its own radio stackusing the OpenRAN technology. To briefly explain this technology, generally, equipment vendors sell the whole end-to-end network gear — from hardware components to software which becomes an expensive buy for telecom operators. So telecom operators have come up with new ways to minimize cost. Now, companies take advantage of low-cost, open-source OpenRAN technology that enables mobile network operators to use equipment from multiple vendors and still ensure interoperability.
Recently, Airtel hogged the limelight by becoming the first telecom operator in India to havetested 5G on a commercial networkin Hyderabad. It surely is a great sign of 5G “readiness” of Airtel, but we have to look beyond that. Airtel did the 5G test on its legacy 4G spectrum — 1.8GHz — which falls under thelow-band 5G frequency bandand it’s only slightly better than 4G. Airtel has stated that it’s going to use 1800MHz, 2300MHz, and 2100 MHz for low-band 5G services across India.
As for mid-band frequency, Airtel islooking to bid spectrums between 3.3GHz – 3.6GHzfor offering NSA sub-6GHz 5G services to its consumers. So far, there has been no news about Airtel procuring mmWave frequency bands so gigabit, ultra-low latency 5G will be a distant dream on Airtel’s network for a few coming years.
Keep in mind, Airtel has been asked by the Supreme Court of India topay theAGR Dueswhich runs into thousands of crores so the prospect of a wide 5G rollout across the country seems unlikely. Apart from that, on the procurement of radio equipment, Airtel is said to be preferring European vendors like Nokia and Ericsson over the Chinese vendors.
In case, you are unaware, theIndian government has not formally blockedChinese players (Huawei, ZTE, etc.) from participating in 5G trials in India, but hasleft the decision to telecom operators. And telecom operators seem to be toeing the government line.
Vodafone Idea has shown keen interest in the upcoming bidding process of 5G spectrums, but experts believe that its financials might not allow the company to buy spectrums between 3.3GHz – 3.6GHz. Along with Airtel,Vodafone Idea is also hit by AGR Duesand the company’s loss is widening day by day. Not to mention, Vodafone Idea’s 1800MHz spectrum license is about to get expired so in the next auction, Vodafone Idea will perhaps look to renew its license rather than buy new radio spectrums.
Having said all of that, Vodafone Idea has stated that it has made changes in its infrastructure and isready to roll out 5Gwhenever the spectrum becomes available. There has been a report saying that Vodafone India is doing trials on “Option 3 (LTE+5G core)” NSA 5G with Nokia. All in all, for now, we can conclude that Vodafone Idea might be able to get some tranche of sub-6GHz frequency band and perhaps offer its initial 5G services in a select few metropolises, but that is all.
5G in India Explained: Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea
So that was our in-depth explainer on 5G in India and what major telecom operators are up to with their 5G preparedness. As we went through the article, it’s clear that Jio is looking to offer premium 5G services across the country and is moving in a unique direction. As for Airtel, you are likely to get sub-6GHz 5G in cities and low-band 5G in rural areas in the near future.
Lastly, Vodafone Idea seems to be on a financial crunch and it will be a miracle if they manage to obtain some spectrums in the sub-6GHz frequency band. Anyway, that is all from us. If you want to learn about the5G bands in the US for Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobilethen go through our linked article. And if you have any questions then let us know in the comment section below.
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