Leading the Way: How India is driving the world’s second wave of 5G adoption

When Indian operators began commercially launching 5G services in late 2022, they heralded the world’s second wave of 5G, leading an array of emerging economies across Asia, Latin America and Africa, representing billions of mobile subscribers. They are firmly set on unlocking the benefits 5G networks can deliver across all of society.

The arrival of the latest generation of mobile technology in the world’s second-largest market signalled a shift away from 5G roll-outs being dominated by pioneer markets such as China, the US and South Korea.

Having entered the game later, the Indian government and operators focused on rolling out 5G networks at a pace never before seen – adding tens of millions of connections last year alone. According to GSMA Intelligence, the country is now on track to reach over 624 million 5G connections by the end of the decade, representing 48 per cent of the country’s total mobile connections.

Snapshot of 5G in India

In October 2022, India saw the official launch of 5G, with networks provided by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, making available this technology in the country three years after its initial global introduction.

Deployments were initially focused on major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and the country has since seen the world’s fastest 5G roll-out – covering 738 districts and 100 million mobile subscribers in just over a year. Network expansions show no signs of slowing down, with GSMA Intelligence forecasting India to have four 5G networks by 2025, serving an additional 145 million users.

The immediate impact of India’s 5G investments is evident in the 115 per cent increase in nationwide download speeds, according to data from Speedtest by Ookla. The average download speed rose from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022 to 29.85 Mbps in January 2023. Notably, speeds exceeded 200 Mbps in nine telecom circles: Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, the Northeast, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh West.

GSMA Intelligence predicts that 5G could generate $455 billion in economic benefits for India between 2023 and 2040, reflecting a substantial number of 5G use cases set to be implemented across key sectors of the Indian economy. Manufacturing and services such as healthcare and education are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of 5G technology, followed by the retail, information and communication technology, and agricultural sectors.

India’s rapid 5G deployments are promising steps in the country’s journey towards becoming one of the leading markets in the future. To this end, there are a number of areas that the country must focus on to ensure continued success.

Closing the country’s usage gap

With almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of the country’s population under the age of 35, India boasts a digitally active population that has significant growth potential – with 1.3 billion smartphone connections expected by 2030.

Despite this, India also has a significant usage gap of 50 per cent, which means that 50 per cent of the population does not use mobile internet despite living in areas covered by mobile broadband networks. This is due to factors such as device affordability, a lack of mobile internet awareness, and challenges related to literacy and digital skills. Since this high usage gap could hinder the uptake of 5G in the country, it becomes essential for the government to address and close this gap. This is crucial for India to reap the rewards of 5G and realise its ambitions of becoming a digital nation.

In its 2023 budget, the Indian government removed customs duty on the import of certain inputs required in the manufacturing of high-end mobile phones. This move is anticipated to result in the production of more affordable devices, with positive ripple effects extending to the wider region, including countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Beyond affordability, concerns around stolen or misused identities and private information are also prominent barriers preventing people from using mobile internet in India. To address these issues, digital skills programmes can serve as effective tools for teaching people the basic skills required to safely navigate mobile internet. The GSMA has resources available and collaborates with operators on initiatives that help underserved groups, such as women. As part of the GSMA’s Connected Women Commitment Initiative,  Jio has committed to increasing the proportion of women in its mobile internet customer base in India.

Laying the foundation for sustainable investment

Much of the success of India’s 5G roll-out can be attributed to the government’s telecom policy, regulatory reforms and pro-investment policies implemented in the months prior to the country’s 5G launch.

For instance, the first set of reforms introduced by the Department of Telecommunications in September 2021 removed the spectrum usage charge operators had previously been mandated to pay based on their spectrum holdings. In addition, the highly successful spectrum auction in July 2022 – largely facilitated by the government lowering reserve prices by 39 per cent – allowed Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea Limited to acquire spectrum in prime 5G bands, including 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz. The following nine months saw Airtel and Jio deploy over 270,000 5G base stations across the country.

Further, in August 2022, the government amended its right-of-way rules, which have historically been a bottleneck in infrastructure roll-out in many countries. The amendments include clauses aimed at expediting the deployment of 5G small cells on existing street infrastructure, which involves centralising the approval process and rationalising the fees paid by operators.

Looking ahead, additional pro-investment policies are required to meet the growing demand for mobile services such as video streaming, gaming and messaging platforms. These services consume substantial internet bandwidth but do not contribute direct fees for utilising the underlying infrastructure. Going forward, the demand from consumers and businesses for even greater bandwidth-heavy applications and services will likely increase. This requires further investments in network infrastructure, which may be challenging for mobile network operators to bear alone. Therefore, a rebalancing is needed to address the investment gap.

The introduction of a “fair-share” mechanism that ensures an equitable contribution from large traffic generators would help rebalance the differences between the substantial infrastructure investments made by network operators and the contribution made by companies generating substantial amounts of data traffic to these networks.

Riding the second wave of 5G

The speed of India’s 5G deployment has been nothing short of remarkable, and the government should be commended for its role in creating the conditions that enabled the world’s fastest roll-out.

While the country holds the potential to transform the global 5G market, key policy approaches are needed in order to fully realise its potential to become a leading digital nation and achieve its ambitions for 6G leadership. To this end, future legislation should aim to further reduce regulatory burdens for operators and create favourable conditions that encourage investment in India’s infrastructure.