5G rollout can unleash new economic opportunities : Economic Survey

The rollout of 5G services can unleash new economic opportunities and help India leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, says the Economic Survey.

The massive wave of digitisation, increased penetration of smartphones, and adoption of technology have opened the doors for both traditional and new-age sectors. The journey is far from complete, and a lot remains to be accomplished to realise our true potential.

A landmark achievement in telecommunications in India was the launch of 5G services. 5G could impact consumers directly through higher data transfer speeds and lower latency. 5G
use cases developed by Telecom Service Providers and start-ups in education, health, worker safety, smart agriculture etc., are now being deployed across the country. Telecom reforms and clear policy direction led to the spectrum auction of 2022 garnering the highest-ever bids, says the survey.

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On the next-generation connectivity services, it said 5G could impact consumers directly through higher data transfer speeds and lower latency, and noted its use cases developed by telcos and startups in education, health, worker safety, smart agriculture are now being deployed across the country.

Telecom reforms and clear policy direction led to the spectrum auction of 2022 garnering the highest-ever bids, the survey observed.

As a major reform measure, the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022, will facilitate faster and easier deployment of telegraph infrastructure to enable speedy 5G rollout.

"The government has brought in procedural reforms in wireless licensing, including delicensing of various frequency bands to promote innovation, manufacturing and export," it said.

As of November 2022, the total telephone subscriber base in India stood at 117 crore. While more than 97 per cent of the total subscribers are connected wirelessly (114.3 crore at the end of November 2022), 83.7 crore have internet connections as of June 2022.

The overall tele-density in India stood at 84.8 per cent, with wide differences across states. It ranged from 55.4 per cent in Bihar to 270.6 per cent in Delhi. Eight licence service areas, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka had a tele-density of above 100 per cent, says the survey.