Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer, Bharti Airtel, has requested Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI’s) to recommend an affordable price of 5G radiowaves ahead of spectrum auctions. As per Sekhon, 5G will have a mass appeal. The technology will not be confined to a niche or premium segment, as cheaper devices become available in a market prepping for the next generation of services.
Sekhon believes spectrum pricing to be crucial. To this end, he is of the opinion that if operators are made to buy an expensive spectrum, their cash flows will be limited, whereas if pricing is reasonable, it is likely that the operator will bring the same money on increasing footprint faster.
In addition, Sekhron asserts that once new services come up, 5G proliferation will gain full speed, and smartphone overall cost would come down. Faster speeds, powered by 5G, will spur new possibilities in India. Further, 5G will enable new possibilities in areas like education, industrial use case, entertainment, cloud gaming, and others.
Meanwhile, telecom service providers are conducting 5G trials in Delhi, Mumbai, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Gurugram, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Pune and Varanasi, including urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
