India enters 5G era: Top cities for 5G launch, telecom players and other details to know

First phase of launch comprises 13 cities. Reliance Jio will be the first to launch the service in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G services on October 1, 2022 in New Delhi while inaugurating the sixth edition of the India Mobile Congress. The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is estimated to reach $450 billion by 2035. Here is all you need to know.

Phase 1 cities where 5G will be rolled out

According to an official release, 5G, launched by the Prime Minister, will be available in select cities for now and it will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years. The first phase of launch comprises 13 cities namely: Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune and Lucknow.

Which operators will roll out 5G services?

Being the highest bidder at the 5G spectrum auctions with an amount of Rs 88,000 crore, Reliance Jio will be the first one to roll out the high speed services. According to a report in the Indian Express, Reliance Jio will roll out 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata by Diwali 2022. Bharti Airtel which emerged as the second highest spender at the auction, claimed that they will enable 5G network across the urban areas of the country by the end of 2023, whereas rural areas are likely to enjoy the services by March 2024.

What are the benefits of 5G?

* Capable of supporting ultra-high-speed internet, the fifth generation or 5G service is expected to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, serving as a transformational force for Indian society.

* 5G offers speed multiple times faster than 4G, supports lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time. It will help in providing seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable communications. Also, it will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency.

* 5G technology will help in connecting billions of Internet of Things devices, allow higher quality video services with mobility at high speed, delivery of critical services such as telesurgery and autonomous cars, among others.

* It will help in real-time monitoring of disasters, precision agriculture, minimising the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations such as in deep mines, offshore activities etc.

* Unlike existing mobile communication networks, 5G networks will allow tailoring of requirements for each of these different use cases within the same network.

* Besides powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), 5G can enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, among others.

"5G can unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits giving it the potential for being a transformational force for Indian society. It will help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovations by startups and business enterprises as well as advance the 'Digital India' vision," the official release said.

(With agency inputs)