- Dilnawas Pasha
- BBC Hindi Service
The 5th generation telecommunication service 5G network has been launched in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the service at a function held in Delhi.
This has ushered in the era of super fast mobile internet in India as well.
Prime Minister Modi said at the event that high-speed internet will not take long to reach every Indian.
The Prime Minister said that this technology will lead to a new revolution, not just for voice calls and watching videos.
Reliance Jio’s 5G service will be available across India by December 2023, the company’s founder Mukesh Ambani has said.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal has said that Airtel will launch its 5G services from October 1, 2022, and they will be available across India by March 2024.
10 GB speed
In the first phase, 5G service will be launched in 8 cities of India namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram and Hyderabad.
Bharti Airtel has announced that it will launch its 5G services in all urban areas of the country by March 2023.
India’s Ministry of Communications estimates that the impact of 5G on the country’s economy will be up to $450 billion by 2035.
With a 5G connection, speeds of up to 10 GB per second will be achieved. Currently 4G network has a maximum speed of 100 Mbps per second
About 10 crore mobile users in India are 5G ready and these consumers own smartphones with 5G technology and want to connect to faster internet within the next 12 months, according to a report by Ericsson Consumer Lab.
Conducted in the second quarter of this year, the survey covers the views of urban consumers. According to this study, India has the highest level of readiness for 5G in the world. According to the report, consumer willingness to switch to 5G networks in India is almost twice as high as compared to developed country markets such as the UK and the US.
What will change other than speed??
But 5G’s impact doesn’t stop there. It will bring many more changes. It will have a major impact especially in the fields of medicine, education, manufacturing and science.
When efforts to develop 5G began in 2014, Professor Rahim Tafajoli, head of the research group at the 5G Innovation Center at the University of Surrey in the UK, told the BBC that “5G will turn everything upside down dramatically”.
Telecom affairs consultant Mahesh Uppal said, “The biggest benefit of 5G networks will be in the manufacturing sector. Smart cities can be interconnected, doctors can perform surgeries remotely and vehicles can operate on roads without drivers.” described that.
5G in the front Challenges
A 5G network can be operated in two ways. First, a separate network should be set up for this, called a stand-alone network. The second is to use an already established network, which I call a stand-alone network.
However, wherever in the world 5G has been launched through a stand-alone network, it has to be connected through a stand-alone network.
To pave the way for 5G speeds, the radio network will have to build new structures. Network provider companies must also ensure that 3G and 4G networks continue to function as before.
Mahesh Uppal said, “5G technology is a new technology. It is expensive. It requires a lot of investment. It requires a large number of towers to set up its network. It takes a lot of cost and time to roll out this network. There are many challenges in setting up 5G.” He says.
He added, “There are two aspects to 5G network expansion. One is to expand the wireless technology geographically and second is to increase its usage. There will be problems in expanding the network. Many types of permissions will be required. It may take time to increase its usage in India.” He says.
A huge challenge is that India has a large customer segment that cannot afford a 5G mobile or pay its expensive data charges.
“From the users’ point of view, they also need a device that supports 5G. Usually 5G phones cost up to twenty thousand rupees. Not everyone can afford them. Maybe the price of 5G mobiles will come down later.” Mahesh Uppal also explains.
Impact on the lives of common people
India currently has a 4G network where video calls can be easily made. You can watch movies online. In such a scenario, the question arises as to what will change with 5G for the common customer.
Responding to this, Mahesh Uppal said, “In the short term, 5G won’t make much of a difference to normal users, but web browsing will be faster.” says that
But there are many benefits that 5G will bring that cannot be ignored. Its biggest advantage will be in the field of automation and technology.
“But in the long term, 5G will have a huge impact. It will revolutionize the manufacturing sector, education and healthcare sectors. Manufacturing units will be able to operate automated vehicles. Doctors will be able to operate remotely.”
“Until now, communication has typically been human-to-human. But now the Internet of Things, where devices and machines are interconnected and share data in real-time at high speeds, will benefit almost all industries.” Mahesh Uppal explains.
5G special features
• 5G stands for Fifth Generation Mobile Internet. Efforts to develop the fifth generation mobile network started as early as 2013 and its rollout started worldwide from 2019.
• When Samsung tested its 5G network in 2013, its speed was 1 Gbps. 5G network is now operational in 70 countries with an average download speed of 700 Mbps.
• 5G will allow data to travel at much higher speeds via radio waves.
• To make it easy to understand, this can be called superfast internet, which is hundred times faster than 4G internet speed.
• Many hope that with the switch to 5G internet, apps won’t crash halfway through, videos won’t buffer, and you won’t have to struggle with endless download identifiers.
Will 5G reach everyone??
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Government of India wants to provide high-speed internet to every citizen.
Indian telecom giant Jio says it plans to roll out 5G network across the country by the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel says its 5G service will roll out across the country by March 2024.
But even the existing 4G network in India has problems in many places. In such a scenario, the question is whether the 5G network will actually reach the common man in India.
Mahesh Uppal said, “If there are problems in 4G, there will be problems in 5G as well because 5G will require a much denser network. The priority of operators now should be to meet the needs of the paying customers. Focus on the industry initially. It may take longer to reach the common man.” He says.
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