As per the Nokia India Mobile Broadband Index 2024, the 5G network has proliferated across metropolitan cities (20 per cent), Tier 2 (17 per cent) and Tier 3 towns (12 per cent), and rural regions (14 per cent) at a fairly fast pace. The report anticipates this robust growth to continue further owing to factors such as greater 5G access, availability of reasonably priced devices, and the launch of data-intensive apps and services. Echoing this sentiment, the Ericsson Mobility Report 2024 projects 5G to account for nearly 65 per cent of all mobile subscriptions in the country by end 2029. Rural users may constitute a significant proportion of 5G subscribers. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) expects rural areas to witness higher growth in new internet users (26 per cent by 2025) vis-à-vis their urban counterparts (10 per cent).
Given the massive data appetite of rural users, in June 2024, the government invited indigenous start-ups and research and development (R&D) institutions to submit proposals under its “5G Intelligent Village” initiative. This concept underscores the ability of these communities to sense their environs, interact, convey data, and extract knowledge to be able to make informed choices and improve living standards.
However, this is not the first time when the idea of a 5G village has been floated in India. Ajol, a village in Gujarat, pioneered the first 5G trial for rural broadband in 2021. Representatives from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) along with Vodafone and Nokia had tested technologies such as 5G immersive gaming and real-time video streams in the village.
What sets the government’s 5G Intelligent Village initiative apart is that it formalises the 5G ecosystem in rural India. The government has selected villages in Andhra Pradesh (Burripalem), Assam (Dablong), Gujarat (Dharmaj), Haryana (Anandpur Jalbera), Maharashtra (Bajargaon), Madhya Pradesh (Aari, Banskhedi and Raosar), Rajasthan (Bhagwanpura), and Uttar Pradesh (Ramgarh Urf Rajahi) for this project. The initiative promotes equitable and inclusive progress across the country by focusing on key sectors of the economy such as agriculture, education, healthcare, governance, and sustainability.
At the same time, it also catalyses novelty in the telecommunications sector, augments IP creation, and provides telecom service providers (TSPs), sensor manufacturers, CCTV suppliers, and internet of things (IoT) providers with a single platform to explore the benefits of 5G. The government encourages participants to explore ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine type communication (mMTC) aspects of 5G.
Some of the areas for innovation, as identified by the government, are network development in areas without 5G connectivity, installing Wi-Fi hotspots for uninterrupted roaming capabilities across villages, defining various use cases, setting up an e-village application platform with intelligent dashboards to host new applications, and network slicing for cyberattack-proof transactions.
5G uses cases for rural India
Healthcare: The government envisions 5G villages to be equipped with technologies such as 5G-enabled health ATMs (automated health screening devices with assessment of over 40 health parameters) and mobile healthcare units (vehicles offering healthcare services to people in underserved areas) to make services more accessible and effective. Smart healthcare is crucial for rural areas considering that India had only 0.16 million subcentres, as of March 2024, according to the National Health Mission. These facilities are the first point of contact between the primary health care system and the country’s rural patients. Further, there could be situations where reaching doctors could be a challenging task.
5G’s features such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and URLLC lessen the requirement for direct patient visits to hospitals through remote consultations. They also curtail travel time and out-of-pocket expenditures for patients leading to an overall improved experience. Further, harnessing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time video streaming offers benefits such as enhanced diagnostics, robotic surgeries, data-driven decision-making, and tailored treatment options. In May 2024, Apollo Hospitals Guwahati launched the first 5G-connected ambulance in the Northeast.
Agriculture: The 5G Intelligent Village initiative also lays the foundation for smart and sustainable agriculture. While the contribution of the agricultural sector to India’s GDP has declined over the years to 18.6 per cent in January 2024, it still remains the backbone of our economy as it employs 54.6 per cent of the country’s workforce. Using 5G’s high speed and low-latency communication along with other technologies such as AI and edge computing can be a game changer for Indian agriculture as cultivators evolve into agripreneurs with empirical corollaries.
Farmers can position drones and IoT sensors for soil health monitoring, crop management, advanced aquaculture and livestock management. This will enable sustainable farming by ensuring precise water use, and create healthier produce in larger quantities due to accurate fertiliser and pesticide application. In the field of dairy farming, Reliance Jio’s GauSamriddhi neck tag equipped with sensors facilitates the supervision of a cow’s health, pregnancy and rumination.
Education: The 5G Intelligent Village initiative also has promising prospects for the education sector. An industry study found that 42 per cent of the children in the age group of 14 to 18 in rural areas cannot read easy sentences while more than half struggle with division problems. This accentuates the importance of imparting education to children in rural areas. In the education sector, 5G augments learning quality by going beyond the confines of a textbook and making learning fun through features such as high definition video streaming. It also cultivates personalised learning by creating intelligent models based on user learning experiences, fosters vocational skill development, and democratises access to affordable and high quality education. Amantya Technologies is installing private 5G networks across 13 educational institutions in India, with eight institutions located in remote north-eastern regions.
Governance: The initiative envisages the deployment of 5G for smart governance at the grassroots level. Government data suggests that currently 213,859 gram panchayats are linked through the BharatNet project and 104,574 Wi-Fi hotspots are installed to ensure last-mile connectivity. 5G and allied technologies can be used for monitoring activities, managing resources, and ensuring efficient local governance. For instance, 5G technologies can be used to embed public assets (power lines, drainage pipes, optic fibres and gas pipelines) with IoT devices to provide real-time information of leaks and blockages. Another example is using 5G for public safety, including using CCTV footage for real-time reporting of community thefts or remote monitoring of mining workers and fishermen to prevent dangerous situations.
Overcoming hurdles
The government’s vision for Indian villages to embark on their 5G journeys opens numerous growth avenues for homegrown telecom start-ups and think tanks. However, this journey is fraught with several challenges.
To begin with, around 45 per cent of Indians still do not enjoy access to the internet, according to an IAMAI-Kantar report. The study attributed this to bottlenecks such as the difficulty to use the internet (23 per cent), being unaware of its benefits (22 per cent), and not being able to afford it (17 per cent).
Second, although India had the fastest 5G network roll-out in the world, it still has a lot of ground to cover in terms of the availability of critical infrastructure. The 5G Intelligent Village initiative will require the seamless integration of 5G services with existing infrastructure. Device compatibility of IT infrastructure might also need to be upgraded to make the most of 5G technology. For instance, there would be a need to upgrade first-responder devices and local communication infrastructure for better disaster management response. Further, there is the challenge of training users, such as medical staff, to operate 5G-enabled devices.
Another key concern is the potential cybersecurity threats emerging from 5G and ancillary technologies. Poor software development, malware transmission during maintenance operations, and weak passwords, etc., greatly increase opportunities for malicious actors to breach into sensitive personal data.
The way forward
5G can revolutionise the lives of India’s rural populace by serving as the fountainhead for the germination of knowledge economy, amplifying the yield and quality of agricultural produce, facilitating more efficient local governance, and expanding access to better healthcare services.
At the same time, 5G also presents TSPs with untapped growth opportunities. Ericsson pegs 5G business potential industry revenues for service providers in India at 17 billion by 2030. As 5G adoption spreads across the country, new use cases and revenue streams are likely to crop up. However, it is imperative to address critical gaps identified above through the collaboration of industry and government. The 5G Intelligent Village initiative serves as the foundation for that.
