Migration to 5G won’t be easy for India, say experts

Telecom industry experts have predicted that aligning with the global markets for 5G technology will not be easy for India, pointing out that backhaul will make migration from existing networks to 5G an issue because less than 20% Indian networks run via fibre optic cables.

Backhaul is a network that connects cells sites to central exchange. A good 5G network cannot be expected in India unless there is a reliable and strong backhaul.

"One of the fundamental requirements for 5G is strong backhaul, which is simply not there and that is the most time consuming part and it is extremely expensive in today's condition in India," Jalaj Choudhri, EVP, Reliance Communications told ET.

India has around 80% of its cell sites connected through microwave backhaul, with less than 20% sites being connected through fibre. As per analysts, microwave backhaul has an issue with bandwidth since it uses traditional bands providing 300 Mbps of capacity. Fiber-based backhaul, on the other hand, can offer unlimited capacity and low latency, which 5G applications demand.

"Fibre infrastructure has to be considered civic infrastructure rather than a property of the service provider. The investment has to be made through civic bodies so that service providers can actually leverage that infrastructure," said Choudhri.

5G technology can power a host of new-age services like machine-to-machine communications, Internet of Things, connected smart cities, self-driving cars, remote control surgery, and virtual reality etc.

Globally, 5G technology will get commercially launched around 2019-202, and field, content and application trials will start around 2018 in India.

(Image source The Register)