Tag: 5G

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OIC countries redefines safety of telecom

Dato' Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO of Cybersecurity Malaysia and the OIC-CERT Permanent Secretariat

At GISEC 2022, Middle East and Africa’s most influential and connected cybersecurity event, the Northern Africa leg of the roll-out in late March…reports Asian Lite News

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – Computer Emergency Response Team (OIC-CERT), a leading international cybersecurity platform, which is currently the third-largest CERT collaboration platform in the world, continued the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework adoption among member countries in 2022.

Earlier this year, the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework Workshop, hosted by CyberSecurity Malaysia was held in conjunction with the Malaysian Edition of Safer Internet Day 2022. It aimed to provide awareness of the importance of 5G security, to develop a common 5G security framework for risk assessment and management, and to develop a common standard for OIC member countries that can be used to mitigate any technical difficulties in rolling out 5G. This event set the ball rolling for similar workshops held in other OIC-CERT member countries. According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), “The OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework will be another reference point guiding in ensuring the overall network security, resiliency and survivability of Malaysia’s 5G implementation.”

Dato’ Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO of Cybersecurity Malaysia and the OIC-CERT Permanent Secretariat, said, “The OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework has garnered tremendous interest since its launch in January 2022. Within ten months, we have promoted the Framework in six countries, resulting in in-person engagement with OIC-CERT members from Malaysia, the UAE, Egypt, and Tunisia, among others.”

“The UAE is leading the adoption of the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework. The country is building a strong foundation in its critical information infrastructure that supports the emergent metaverse and other future digital initiatives. With the UAE providing a reference point on the versatility and adoptability of the 5G Security Framework, we hope to see more members joining the bandwagon by the end of 2022. This will play an important role in elevating the digital readiness of OIC countries,” he added.

At GISEC 2022, Middle East and Africa’s most influential and connected cybersecurity event, the Northern Africa leg of the roll-out in late March. This was followed by the Cybersecurity Innovation Series (CSIS) Egypt edition, where Mohd Shamir Hashim, the Senior Vice President of CyberSecurity Malaysia International Engagement and the Co-Chair of the OIC-CERT 5G Security Working Group, had a meeting with the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Egypt and the National Agency for Computer Security (ANSI) Tunisia. As a result, both agencies indicated the possibility of adopting the OIC-CERT framework in managing 5G security in their countries.

Recently, H.E. Dr Mohamed AI-Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity for the UAE Government announced that the country had developed a UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance, currently under review, which will effectively strengthen UAE telecommunication cybersecurity in a holistic and systematic manner, involving governance and management, implementation, and improvement of a secure, resilient and self-healing telecom network. Comprised of two parts, the Guidance defines a defense-in-depth, zero-trust driven multi-layered framework based on the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework. This approach builds security incrementally from the physical layer security to the application layer security based on internationally recognized standards and best practices. The first layer on the equipment security looks at mandating GSMA/3GPP NESAS/SCAS certification as a baseline requirement in the first part to defining a world-first telecom information security management system or the T-ISMS based mainly on GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base and other global standards, which are all recommended by the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework.

With the UAE leading the adoption of the 5G Security Framework, the country will become an ideal reference point that will provide guidance on how the framework can be utilized to promote the standardization of 5G security on an open and transparent platform to accelerate the seamless, cost-effective roll-out of 5G among the OIC-CERT member states.

The OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework is designed based on the Plan, Do, Check, and Act (PDCA) cycle of the security management systems. However, this framework does not extend many controls under PDCA, but instead further clarifies and simplifies the journey of 5G adoption for OIC member countries in terms of cybersecurity. These four components are uniquely developed as the enabler of PDCA, focusing on baseline and indispensable elements to better maintain and operate a 5G security system in a holistic manner.

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‘5G’ triggers job creation

Job roles such as telecommunications engineer have grown by 16 per cent from August to September 2022 in the country….reports Asian Lite News

As enterprises look at 5G adoption at an accelerated pace with its roll out in India, job postings for telecommunications and 5G have increased by 33.7 per cent in the last 12 months, a new report showed on Tuesday.

Job roles such as telecommunications engineer have grown by 16 per cent from August to September 2022 in the country.

The data by leading job website Indeed also revealed that the average salary for top job roles such as technical support, BPO executive and customer service representative is Rs 3,53,298, Rs 3,29,520 and Rs 3,06,680 respectively.

“5G rollout has been eagerly anticipated in India, and businesses have already begun hiring to develop 5G-specific technology and services. We will likely see an uptick in hiring for these roles in the next few quarters,” said Saumitra Chand, Career Expert, Indeed India.

As India rolls out 5G, demand for cybersecurity is likely to increase as well.

There is already a talent mismatch of 25.5 per cent in security between August 2019 to August 2022, and the launch of 5G services will trigger a major spike in security-related jobs, the report said.

“There will be an increased need for skilled talent that can design security systems and strengthen network architectures to adapt to the new technology,” said Chand.

The pandemic fast tracked the requirement for robust cybersecurity practices as companies became remote, more devices were online, digital payments were rising, and security issues were at an all-time high.

The data showed that job postings for “cybersecurity” have grown 81 per cent between August 2019 to August 2022.

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India News

43% of Indians not willing to pay extra for 5G services

According to the report, just 5 per cent mobile subscribers surveyed are ready to move to 5G in 2022…reports Asian Lite News

As India rolls out 5G services at some locations in select cities, 43 per cent of those willing to switch to 5G are not willing to pay anything more than current tariff for 3G or 4G services, a report showed on Friday.

While many more smartphone users are likely to come onboard if the shift to 5G addresses issues like call drop/connect, network availability and low speed, another 43 per cent indicated they are willing to pay up to 10 per cent extra tariff, according to the report by online community platform LocalCircles.

Just 2 per cent of them showed willingness to pay between 25-50 per cent more tariff for 5G.

As against 4G speeds of 40-50 Mbps depending on the area and connectivity in India, 5G services are expected to support speeds of 300 Mbps or more.

To begin with, Reliance Jio and Airtel have identified Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Varanasi, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Kolkata, Siliguri, Gurugram and Hyderabad for the first phase of launch.

According to the report, just 5 per cent mobile subscribers surveyed are ready to move to 5G in 2022.

While 20 per cent surveyed said they already have a 5G device, another 4 per cent are likely to get one this year.

Another 20 per cent said they are likely to purchase a 5G device in 2023.

Out of more than 500 million smartphone users in India, about 100 million are expected to have a 5G-ready device by the end of this year.

Nearly 24 per cent respondents shared that they have no plans to buy a new upgraded device in the foreseeable future, while another 22 per cent are yet to make up their mind, the findings showed.

The Department of Telecommunication met with the operators as well as phone makers earlier this week to update the government about their plans so that the 5G roll-out can happen at the earliest.

Samsung said that they are working with their operator partners and are committed to rolling out OTA updates across all its 5G devices by mid-November, Apple said that it will start rolling out 5G to iPhone users in December.

Majority mobile subscribers expect that upgrading to 5G service will lead to reduction in call drop/connect issues, better network availability and speed.

ALSO READ-Telcos shift gears to rollout seamless 5G

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Telcos shift gears to rollout seamless 5G

Samsung said that it has pioneered 5G technology development since 2009 and took the leading role in standardising 5G technology globally…reports Asian Lite News

Leading mobile handset players on Wednesday said they are working with telecom service providers to release necessary 5G software updates by year-end, as the government told them to fix the gaps and ensure a seamless transition to 5G for millions in the first phase.

In a meeting, the government told the stakeholders to quickly support the new technology.

While Apple said it will roll out 5G-enabled services via an over-the-air (OTA) update for iPhones by the end of December, Samsung said it will release software updates by mid-November.

An OTA update is the wireless delivery of new software, firmware, or other data to mobile devices. Wireless carriers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) typically use over-the-air updates to deploy firmware and configure phones for use on their networks over Wi-Fi or mobile broadband.

“We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December,” Apple said in a statement.

Samsung said that it has pioneered 5G technology development since 2009 and took the leading role in standardising 5G technology globally.

“In India, Samsung has the widest portfolio of 5G devices. We are working closely with our operator partners and are committed to rolling out OTA updates across all our 5G devices by mid-November,” a company spokesperson said.

Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi were among the major mobile phone makers present in the meeting, which was presided over by telecom as well as IT secretaries.

“Pixel 7, 7 Pro and Pixel 6a are 5G capable devices. We are actively working with the Indian carriers to enable functionality at the earliest,” a Google India spokesperson said in a statement.

Muralikrishnan B, President, Xiaomi India said that currently, 100 per cent of its 5G smartphone models support the NSA network out of the box, wherein users can choose ‘Prefer 5G’ in network settings to connect to the 5G network”.

“We have already started rolling out the FOTA (firmware over-the-air) updates to select devices like Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G, Mi 11X Pro, Xiaomi 11i, Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge, among others. Most devices will start receiving OTA updates by Diwali,” Muralikrishnan added.

Airtel and Jio have rolled out their 5G services in key metros in a phased manner. Vodafone-Idea is yet to reveal its 5G roll-out plans.

ALSO READ-Airtel launches 5G Plus in 8 cities

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Business India News Tech Lite

Smartphone users will have to wait till 2024 for 5G

Not only consumers but also enterprises and the public sector will be able to benefit from 5G over the period of next two years…reports Asian Lite News

As India rolls out 5G with showcasing some early use cases with telcos setting some aggressive deadlines, millions of smartphone users will only enjoy the super-fast Internet in 2024 amid infrastructure limitations, limited use cases and low 5G handset penetration, industry experts said on Monday.

India is home to more than 500 million smartphone users and over 100 million users with 5G-ready smartphones wish to upgrade to a 5G subscription in 2023, according to a latest Ericsson report.

However, there are multiple challenges ahead for telecom service providers to meet the tough roll-out deadlines.

“In theory, there are use cases out there which really warrant and demand 5G: enterprise solutions, private networks, IoT, logistics. But it could take a year or more for those applications to really take off,” said Prasanto K. Roy, a leading technology and public policy expert.

Telcos will focus on converting existing higher-ARPU (average revenue per user) individual customers to 5G, which really limits how much more they can charge for 5G especially in a competitive space.

“I don’t see 5G really bumping up ARPU overall in any significant way — at least not in 2023,” Roy said.

In the top four metros, consumers should be able to experience 5G in early October (according to Airtel) to late October (according to Reliance Jio), with Airtel planning to take 5G to eight cities this month.

There are no 5G roll out plans from Vodafone-Idea yet.

“However, with tariffs still unclear, I do not know if current 4G customers will all be able to sample a limited trial, or will have to upgrade right away. Although Airtel (and possibly Jio) expects a revenue increase (from its current ARPU of Rs 183), I do not expect most customers to shell out much more for 5G,” Roy noted.

The Ericsson study, however, claimed that the Indian smartphone users are willing to pay a 45 per cent premium for a plan bundled with novel experiences, which could be a delight for Internet service providers ready with 5G.

According to Neil Shah, Vice President of Research at Counterpoint, in terms of population coverage, for all operators, India should reach the current blanket 4G coverage by the end of 2024 , way sooner than the 4G or 3G era.

“Jio is in a driver’s seat with respect to its peers to likely achieve a pan India 5G network rollout over the next 15 months with no 2G, 3G and 4G baggage,” said Shah.

Not only consumers but also enterprises and the public sector will be able to benefit from 5G over the period of next two years.

“Airtel, on the other hand, also has been building a highly upgradeable network to easily reuse the same towers for both 4G and 5G. Most of its key circles should be able to experience 5G by mid-2024,” Shah noted.

According to smartphone players, 5G has the potential to bring together the entire ecosystem and online gaming, augmented/virtual reality (AR-VR) experience, along with content creation, will take centre-stage with the launch of 5G services.

“With 5G being officially available now, we are looking forward to exploring the numerous opportunities it provides to us and will be directing our efforts into making this technology even more accessible to users,” said Madhav Sheth, CEO realme India, VP, realme and President, realme International Business Group.

According to Roy, infrastructure limitations and limited use cases and revenue also pose great challenges for telcos and smartphone players.

“To really leverage 5G bandwidth and latency, towers are to be connected by fibre. Only a third of them are ‘fiberised’ so I would expect 5G service to be reserved for large cities until the fiber gets to twice that number of towers,” he explained.

Telcos have also struggled with adequate tower density even for 4G, but 5G needs a much higher tower density — increasing upfront investment.

“All this capex investment would also be limited by the telcos’ high debt and stagnant ARPU (revenues), already stretched by spectrum fees and initial 5G investments,” according to Roy.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw expects telcos to invest Rs 2-3 lakh crore on 5G and 4G in the next two years for better voice quality and high-speed data.

There are also 5G network equipment availability challenges, because of very strict supply chain reporting mandates for cybersecurity and related reasons since June 2021 (called the NSDTS directive).

“This is slowing down approved telecom and IT equipment available for the telcos, or requiring them to apply for case by case exemptions,” Roy said.

ALSO READ-‘Make in India’ smartphone shipments grow 16%

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Modi launches 5G in India

PM Modi addressing at the inauguration of the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress and launch of 5G Services, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)

Prime Minister Modi said: “With 5G, India is setting a global standard in telecom technology for the first time,” reports Asian Lite News

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched 5G telephony services, India ushered in an era of ultra high-speed Internet.

Addressing the gathering in the presence of industry leaders including Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprise; Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group and others, the Prime Minister said that the summit might be global but its repercussions and directions are local.

Modi also inaugurated the sixth edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) in New Delhi and also witnessed the IMC Exhibition that was put on the occasion.

“Today, 130 crore Indians are getting a wonderful gift in the form of 5G from the country and from the telecom industry of the country. 5G is a knock on the doors of a new era in the country. 5G is the beginning of an infinite sky of opportunities. I congratulate every Indian for this.”

The PM noted with satisfaction that in this launch of 5G and the march of technology, rural areas and workers are equal partners. Stressing on the technological growth that India has been witnessing in the last few years, the Prime Minister said, “New India will not remain a mere consumer of technology, but India will play an active role in the development and implementation of that technology.”

The Prime Minister pointed out that India was dependent on other countries for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. But with 5G, India has created a new history. “With 5G, India is setting a global standard in telecom technology for the first time,” he remarked.

Talking about Digital India, the Prime Minister said that some people think that this is just a government scheme. “But Digital India is not just a name, it is a big vision for the development of the country. The goal of this vision is to bring that technology to the common people, which works for the people, works by connecting with the people.”

Focussing on the need for a holistic approach to Digital India, the Prime Minister elaborated “We focused on four pillars, in four directions at once. First, the price of the device; second, digital connectivity; third, the cost of data; fourth, and most importantly, the idea of ‘digital first’ .

Regarding the first pillar, the Prime Minister said that the low cost of devices can only be achieved through Aatmnirbharta. The Prime Minister recalled that there were only two mobile manufacturing units in India till eight years ago. “These numbers have now gone up to 200,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister underlined that from exporting zero mobile phones in 2014, today we have become a mobile phone exporting country worth thousands of crores. “Naturally, all these efforts have had an impact on the cost of the device. Now we have started getting more features at a lower cost,” he added.

Modi also mentioned that India had 25 crore Internet connections back in 2014; a number that has now increased to 85 crore. More Internet users are coming onboard from rural areas. 5G will play a key role in how users new and old will benefit from the Internet and its possibilities.

“Many people used to make fun of my Aatmanirbhar Bharat – but we increased mobile phone manufacturing units in India. 8 years back, there were only two mobile manufacturing units. Today there are over 200 units in India. We are at number 2 in the world and are exporting our mobile phone to the world,” said the PM.

PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)

PM Modi also virtually interacted with Metro workers, who were present inside a Metro tunnel, via 5G technology.

The Prime Minister said that the cost of data is among the lowest in the world. It has come down from 300 rupees per GB to about 10 rupees per GB. Remarking on the consumer-centric focussed efforts of the government, the Prime Minister said that the cost of data in India has remained very low due.

PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)
PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)
PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)
PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)
PM visits the exhibition at the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi on October 01, 2022. (PIB)
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What can hamper India’s 5G dream?

According to industry sources, the motivation to exclude NB-IoT for smart meters is “unclear given that NB-IOT is the latest state of the art technology and is future proof”…reports Asian Lite News

As India gears up to launch 5G services in October, state-run Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) is still going ahead with dated, obsolete technology to install one crore smart electricity meters, which can put electricity sector reforms in jeopardy.

The technology currently in focus is the latest platform and connectivity solution called Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) that can work with 4G and 5G networks.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution, which supplies electricity in north and north-west Delhi, already uses NB-IoT in smart meters that collect and track the electricity consumption of a unit or a system that they are connected to.

The PGCIL first floated a smart metering tender for the smart meters based on older and dated second generation (2G) and RF mesh frequency in March.

Later, the PGCIL modified the tender to include NBIoT technology.

However, there was another revision in the bid on August 18, where the new and 5G-ready NB-IoT technology was again excluded by the central transmission utility.

NB-IoT is a cellular communication technology which is accepted globally. It provides enduring cellular technology in 4G as well as 5G deployments and is better for use in high-rises, basements and rural installations of machine-to-machine applications.

According to industry sources, the motivation to exclude NB-IoT for smart meters is “unclear given that NB-IOT is the latest state of the art technology and is future proof”.

One reason that the Power Grid did not go for NB-IoT technology can be that it is not yet widely proven on a mass scale.

The government has recently concluded a highly successful auction for 5G spectrum and the country is on the threshold of seeing the launch of M2M and other 5G applications.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently been emphasising the importance and necessity of launch of 5G services.

According to industry sources, when the capability to offer the latest technology exists in the country, it is a highly “retrograde step” for a PSU to make a backward move and exclude the technology from its tender.

They said that it is essential that the latest technology be deployed into the power sector in order to ensure longevity of the systems being put into place.

Ignoring the latest technology defeats the very idea of modernisation, they added.

The Ministry of Power recently launched a Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) programme which aims to roll out smart meters to 250 million customers by 2025.

Panel lambasts lack of preparedness

The Standing Committee on Information Technology has raised concerns that India “may miss the 5G bus” due to inadequate availability of spectrum, high spectrum prices, low fiberisation among others.

Highlighting the concerns leading to the delay, the report of the panel chaired by Congress’ Shashi Tharoor said that it is “disappointing” to note that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has hardly learnt from the past delays as the vision for 5G, which was reflected in the setting up of the High-Level Forum and Expert Committees, has not been transformed into action on the ground and is not reflected in the policies formulated by the government.

The panel, in its report, has noted that poor development of use cases, non-uniform Rights of Way (RoW), deficient backhaul capacity among others are also factors coming in the way of rolling out of 5G services in India.

“There are apprehensions that India is set to miss the ‘5G bus’ due to lack of preparedness, spectrum issues, inadequate use-case development, uncertainty around sale of radio waves for 5G, etc,” the report presented in the parliament said.

According to the report, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has informed the panel that even though the report of the 5G High Level Forum has been released by the DoT in August, 2018, only minimal implementation instructions have been issued so far.

Spectrum issues which are at the heart of 5G are yet to be resolved, noted the panel, adding that the telecom service providers (TSP) have submitted that spectrum bands for 5G are yet to be identified and made available to them.

“The current reserve price of spectrum is one of the highest in the world, which needs to be rationalised taking into account per capita income and reserve price benchmarks of other countries, 5G trial applications have been submitted by the TSPs in the month of January 2020.”

However, till date the guidelines for trials have not been made clear and there is no set date for commencement of these trials, it added.

ALSO READ-5G services rollout in India by Oct 12

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India News Tech Lite

5G services rollout in India by Oct 12

There is a provision for small cells, electric poles, access to street furniture, etc. introduced for the easy and smooth deployment of 5G networks…reports Asian Lite News

The government on Thursday said it expects 5G services to be rolled out in the country by October 12, and the Centre will make sure that the prices are affordable for the consumers.

Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that installations are being done and telecom operations are busy with the seamless rollout of 5G services. The government will ensure that the 5G plans remain affordable for the public, the minister said.

The government also introduced the “The Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022” along with the launch of the 5G right of work (RoW) application Form on the GatiShakti Sanchar Portal.

The Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022 will help the industry in faster proliferation of digital infrastructure, deployment of small cells, aerial fibre, and street furniture.

There is a provision for small cells, electric poles, access to street furniture, etc. introduced for the easy and smooth deployment of 5G networks.

The 5G services would be rolled out in a phased manner and during the first phase, 13 cities will get the 5G internet services.

The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

Just like 3G and 4G, telcos will soon announce dedicated 5G tariff plans and according to industry experts, consumers may pay more to access the 5G services on their devices.

Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are currently tight-lipped, deliberating internally whether to opt for a substantial or a modest price hike for the end users, along with discussions on providing lucrative data bundling offers with smartphone makers when 5G roll out takes a better shape, according to sources.

However, the tariff plans will come down as usage increases, and more people embrace 5G networks especially in Metros where the initial demand will come.

An immediate tariff war with the launch of 5G is unlikely, but it “will be competitive as India continues to be a price-conscious market”.

A recent report by Nomura Global Markets Research estimated that telecom service providers would have two options — either a modest 4 per cent incremental tariff hike on their overall subscriber base or a 30 per cent premium over 1.5 GB per day 4G plans.

“Historically, Indian telecom companies have refrained from charging a premium for 4G plans (vs 2G/3G data plans). With potentially higher speed on offer and likely initial uptake from premium customers (smartphones above Rs 15,000), there is a potential for telecom companies to charge a premium for 5G (vs 4G), in our view,” Nomura said in its report.”5G tariff plans would be a key monitorable in the near term, and 5G premium (vs 4G) may provide the next leg of ARPU (average revenue per unit) uptick for the telecom companies,” it added.

Another report by Goldman Sachs Equity Research mentioned that 5G rollouts have not resulted in any “meaningful uptick in capex for telecom companies globally, and it foresees a similar trend in India”.

Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon said recently in reports that globally, there’s not a major difference between 5G and 4G tariffs.

“We expect 5G plans in India to be similar to 4G tariffs,” he had said.

ALSO READ-5G to trigger another tariff war

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5G to trigger another tariff war

Another report by Goldman Sachs Equity Research mentioned that 5G rollouts have not resulted in any “meaningful uptick in capex for telecom companies globally, and it foresees a similar trend in India”…writes Nishant Arora

As the Indian telecom operators plan to roll out 5G services as early as September-October on pilot basis in select circles, millions of Indian who have 5G-capable smartphones are concerned if they will have to shell out more money to access ultra-fast speed and better connectivity.

Just like 3G and 4G, telcos will soon announce dedicated 5G tariff plans and according to industry experts, consumers may pay more to access the 5G services on their devices.

Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are currently tight-lipped, deliberating internally whether to opt for a substantial or a modest price hike for the end users, along with discussions on providing lucrative data bundling offers with smartphone makers when 5G roll out takes a better shape, according to sources.

However, the tariff plans will come down as usage increases, and more people embrace 5G networks especially in Metros where the initial demand will come.

“I think the 5G tariff war will be there but surely not aggressive as we saw in 2016. Operators have repeatedly mentioned possible data price adjustments to boost average revenue per user (ARPU),” Tarun Pathak, Research Director, Counterpoint Research, told IANS.

An immediate tariff war with the launch of 5G is unlikely, but it “will be competitive as India continues to be a price-conscious market,” he mentioned.

A recent report by Nomura Global Markets Research estimated that telecom service providers would have two options — either a modest 4 per cent incremental tariff hike on their overall subscriber base or a 30 per cent premium over 1.5 GB per day 4G plans.

“Historically, Indian telecom companies have refrained from charging a premium for 4G plans (vs 2G/3G data plans). With potentially higher speed on offer and likely initial uptake from premium customers (smartphones above Rs 15,000), there is a potential for telecom companies to charge a premium for 5G (vs 4G), in our view,” Nomura said in its report.

“5G tariff plans would be a key monitorable in the near term, and 5G premium (vs 4G) may provide the next leg of ARPU (average revenue per unit) uptick for the telecom companies,” it added.

Another report by Goldman Sachs Equity Research mentioned that 5G rollouts have not resulted in any “meaningful uptick in capex for telecom companies globally, and it foresees a similar trend in India”.

However, Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, feels that with the imminent roll-out of 5G services in the near horizon, “telecom operators will potentially seek to be aggressive in their 5G pricing plans to gain early consumer acceptance, and thereby, secure their leadership mantle in 5G”.

“As 5G use cases develop further, telecom operators will seek to potentially post further market share gains in 2023 owing to any potential market churn,” Ram told IANS.

The upgrade to 4G from 2G and 3G in the country was sluggish, and got a boost only after attractive data offerings led by Reliance Jio, which is again expected in the 5G era with a right mix of bundled offers with smartphone makers.

“We have been working closely with various telecom operators for over two years and have extensively tested most of our models for usability. Having a strong understanding of SA & NSA network bands, we have rolled out devices that support some of the most anticipated bands,” Muralikrishnan B, President, Xiaomi India, told IANS.

“This gives us the confidence that we will successfully be able to support, and lead the rollout of 5G solutions to millions of our users,” he added.

The installed base of smartphones with 5G capabilities has crossed 5 crore in the country.

“The success of 5G hinges on its premium pricing over 4G. However, reducing price disparity is key to a faster transition across categories A and B. Anticipated 4G tariff hike this fiscal and 5G premium offering in the next will elevate ARPU to Rs 185-Rs 190, though it will still be lower than the ARPU of Rs 203 seen in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY21-22 for private players in metro circles alone,” explains CRISIL Ratings in its report.

Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon said recently in reports that globally, there’s not a major difference between 5G and 4G tariffs.

“We expect 5G plans in India to be similar to 4G tariffs,” he had said.

ALSO READ: Jio, Voda step up hiring

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Demand for 5G smartphones drops

Practical uses of 5G have yet to be seen, and is especially unnecessary for low-mid devices when 4G speeds are sufficient in day-to-day usage…reports Asian Lite News

As India plans to usher in the 5G era, the demand for 5G-compatible devices has nosedived in Southeast Asia as practical uses of 5G have yet to be seen amid rising inflation, a new report said on Monday.

5G deployment in developing Southeast Asian markets has been abysmal, ensuring the hype for 5G has dwindled, and demand has shifted to more practical aspects of smartphones such as battery life, storage, processor speed and camera quality, reports Canalys.

“The demand for 5G devices has come to a standstill. 5G devices experienced their first sequential decline to 18 per cent of overall smartphone shipments in Q2,” said research analyst Chiew Le Xuan.

Growing inflation has resulted in consumers looking for longer-lasting devices over less practical qualities such as 5G.

Practical uses of 5G have yet to be seen, and is especially unnecessary for low-mid devices when 4G speeds are sufficient in day-to-day usage.

“Maintaining device affordability while boosting profitability is the greatest challenge fora-vendors,” Xuan added.

In the second quarter (Q2), Southeast Asian smartphone shipments reached 24.5 million units, a 7 per cent drop from the previous quarter.

Samsung retained its leading position, despite a 19 per cent fall from Q1, owing to lower than anticipated demand for its mid-to-high-end A series.

Indonesia remained the largest market, with 37 per cent share and 9.1 million shipments, followed by Philippines with 4.4 million shipments.

Thailand’s smartphone market declined 14 per cent sequentially to 4 million units, and Vietnam smartphone market declined 32 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 3.1 million shipments, as a result of weakened consumer demand stemming from global uncertainties and rising commodity prices.

Malaysia’s smartphone market grew 6 per cent to 2.4 million shipments.

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