Categorised as an essential service sector, the telecom industry played an important role in keeping the wheels of the economy moving during the Covid-19 crisis. High capacity, high speed telecom networks serviced the nation efficiently, ensuring the continuance of key services across domains such as healthcare and banking, and maintaining supply chains during the crisis. Broadband connectivity facilitated near-normal operations and business continuity from homes.
Of course, the pandemic did have adverse effects on the sector as network maintenance and site visits become big challenges due to lockdown restrictions. Physical movement was highly restricted during early 2020, making it challenging for field teams to resolve quality of service issues. Public panic also led people, especially housing societies, to disallow service personnel from entering their premises for critical maintenance and upgradation of network services.
The challenges notwithstanding, telecom sites across India were being monitored by IP-1s on an hourly basis. The support of local government authorities helped in maintaining connectivity and coverage in rural areas. Meanwhile, several state/UT governments, such as those of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, supported towercos in the desealing of various sites to provide better connectivity. Nodal officers were appointed by the states on the basis of the Department of Telecommunications’ advisory to assist in network maintenance and roll-outs by assigning electricity connections to telecom infrastructure on priority, granting permissions to install cells-on-wheels (CoWs), waiving penalties on delays in electricity bill payments, etc.
The Covid-19 pandemic also led to a massive surge in data traffic, with internet usage touching unprecedented levels. A clear shift in usage hubs was observed, as most of the data consumption took place in residential zones. With many people working from home, the concentration of traffic on home networks went up by 20-30 per cent. Telcos did a commendable job in addressing this demand by reoptimising connectivity in these areas. 4G capacities were rereallocated from dense public spaces or corporate hubs to residential complexes. They also made plug gap arrangements such as CoW or small/femto cells to boost capacity. Further, telcos accommodated customers by enabling electronic know-you-customer measures during the lockdown, which is otherwise a tedious process. While there was some revenue loss owing to the lack of options for physical recharges (which are important for a sizeable portion of the rural population in particular), much of it was compensated by a growth in data uptake and a consequent increase in ARPUs. As per data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), data consumption grew from 23,402 GB at the end of March 2020 to 25,979 GB at the end of June 2020, even as net subscriber additions declined from 1,177.97 million to 1,160.52 million during the same period.
Rise of digital
The silver lining for the telecom sector amidst the pandemic was the dramatic upswing in the adoption of new-age technologies. Remote working was made possible owing to resilient, accessible and affordable cloud infrastructure. Virtual reality and video meetings helped employees collaborate, automation helped companies conduct operations without human intervention, e-commerce helped critical supplies reach the last mile, digital payments precluded the need for physical exchange of money, edutech platforms ensured continuity in classes, and telemedicine platforms enabled doctors to conduct outpatient activities online. In the long run, low-contact business models are clearly going to become mainstream for near-autonomous warehouses, robotics, drone delivery systems, and 3D/ additive manufacturing.
The ongoing crisis has also had a significant impact on the way enterprises and individuals do business, with a major shift towards the adoption of digital technologies. It has compelled organisations, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to ramp up their digital infrastructure drastically. SMEs, which have traditionally been slow adopters of internet-based services and applications, are now readily embracing virtual platforms and collaboration software. For a country like India, this can be a veritable gamechanger, as the digital footprint of most enterprises has remained low. Many tech companies have introduced training modules to help small companies with workforces that lack digital training move from desktops to cloud software.
Opportunity in adversity
As challenging as the Covid crisis is, it has reinforced the importance of a robust telecom infrastructure. Several technologies have come to the fore to support businesses and individuals in getting accustomed to the new normal.
The pandemic has put the spotlight on videoconferencing and its positive impact on both productivity and costs. Going forward, these productivity and efficiency trends will persist. The pandemic has resulted in the widespread adoption of e-services such as virtual meetings, e-commerce, OTT streaming apps, e-learning, webinars, and digital payments; and these services will continue to prevail in a the post-Covid world owing to their convenience factor.
As work-from-home becomes the new norm, fibre-based solutions for homes will get a further impetus. There will also be a strong demand for in-building solutions such as Wi-Fi, as these solutions will help carry the fibre bandwidth to individual consumer devices.
In sum, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated India’s transition to high speed broadband and digitalisation by at least a decade. The crisis is likely to be a gamechanger for India’s digital transformation and expedite the country’s transition to a digital economy.
By Akanksha Mahajan Marwah
