5G network or fifth-generation cellular technology is predicted to accelerate the digital growth of India. Ultra-fast speed, high bandwidth, and low latency of 5G are projected to fuel the transition in the country. As per IBEF, roll out of 5G services is estimated to create opportunity bubble of US$ 10 Bn for IT & Telecom sector in India. Initial infrastructure developments are observed to see higher share at a faster rate. The market is at an emerging stage in India and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 90% during the prognosis period.
India 5G opportunity and Investments:
5G launch in the country is expected to be around the end of 2021. Chinese telecom leader Huawei anticipates India to arise as second largest 5G market in the coming decade. Global telecom industry association GSM has predicted that by 2025 total 1.4 billion 5G connections will be globally available. Accounting for about 15 per cent of the total market. GSMA also predicted that by 2025 half of connections in the US will be 5G, 30% will be 5G in China, and 5% in India. Huawei has tied up with Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for 5G trials. 5G technology will fundamentally move the processing ability of handsets to mobile edge/ cloud. Thus, handsets are expected to have longer battery life than before. 5G in a Software defined Networking (SDN) / Network Function Virtualization (NFV) environment offer services based on network slicing where operators allocate network resources (slices) aligned with complexity of customer requirement.
5G applications in agriculture & automotive industry:
5G data speed is expected to be around 10 Gbps enabling rich user experience along with revolutionizing the mobility content available online. 5G is expected to use bands with higher frequency bands, for instance, 30-300 GHz, which will deliver higher bandwidth, better capacity, lesser interference, and scalability. 5G in conjunction with IoT will be the key technology choice industries automotive, medicine, manufacturing. 5G is expected to speed up the implementation of V2X (vehicle to everything), autonomous driving, connected cars, and smart transportation system. The manufacturing industry is predicted to influence 5G in connected and smart factories, smart supply-chain network, synchronized planning, and smart logistic operations. Furthermore, implementation of 5G connectivity in Internet of Things (IoT) is likely to have a positive impact on the India 5G market. Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is estimated to transform the healthcare industry digitally via online consultation, patient data management and connected healthcare.
Moreover, it is anticipated to modernize the agriculture industry through data transfer at high-speed in smart irrigation, soil & crop monitoring, agricultural drone, precision farming, and livestock management. Furthermore, 5G in India is expected to find vast applications in smart cities. The digital India and smart cities initiatives launched by the government of India is projected to proliferate the market in coming years.
Adoption of 5G in media & entertainment industry:
Implementation of 5G in media and entertainment is also estimated to propagate the market growth in the coming years. 5G enabled services such as immersive experience, enriching gaming experience, User/machine generated content from smart devices, Cooperative media production and distributed performance are emerging trends in the media & entertainment industry.
Additionally, improving living pattern due to increased disposable income of the Indian residents is another reason that is estimated to escalate the 5G market in the country. However, higher infrastructure cost and lack of availability of network in the remote locations of the country are expected to restrict the market growth. Initially high prices will be enacted by the network operators for the data plans, this might have a negative impact on the market. Although, need of faster communication and reliable infrastructure will reduce the impact of the restraint in the country.
Competitive Landscape:
Various network operators such as Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will be competing in India 5G market. Whereas, the infrastructure equipment vendors include, Cisco Systems, Inc., ZTE Corporation, Nokia Corporation, among others. The market is expected to have a monopoly due to availability of limited players and hence, competition in the offerings will be observed during the launch of 5G in the country.
Segmentation:
The India 5G Market is segmented into following categories.