5G TRIALS IN INDIA | UPSC EXAM

INTRODUCTION

G denotes Generation in mobile network technology. This generation symbolize a revolution that brings technology upgrade in this sector.

Let’s take a brief look at these generations:

1G – First generation of wireless cellular technology that was introduced in1980. It supports voice only calls. Battery and voice quality used to be poor and faced drop calls issues. It is an analog technology with maximum speed of 2.4 kbps.

2G – This major technology elevation from 1G to 2G came about in 1991 in Finland. It had GSM and CDMA network which transformed our cell phones from analog to digital one. This enabled call and text encryption at the speed of 64 Kbps. One could exchange SMS, picture messages, mail, MMS.

3G – In 1998, this technology led to faster data-transmission speed with a speed of 2 Mbps for Non-moving devices and 384 Kbps in moving devices. This was termed as Mobile Broadband as it supported video calling and mobile internet access.

4G – It brought high speed, capacity and quality voice and data services to users at very low cost. MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology and OFMD (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) was used. Later, 4G was installed with LTE to make high resolution videos download without buffering. An advanced version of 4G called VoLTE also came out

5G – The upcoming generation of cellular technology aims to provide increased downloading and uploading speed over mobile network. It will also lessen the responding time of network to a great extent by reducing the latency. The maximum download speed will increase up to 20Gbps. Mobile network will become steadier and energy efficient. Frequency spectrum will be broadened to 30Ghz-300Ghz to manage network crowd. It will guarantee connectivity to full circle. It will have three bands – low, mid, high frequency spectrum. All of them have their own uses as well as limits.

APPLICATIONS –

High Speed mobile network
Entertainment and Multimedia
Internet of Things
Smart Cities
Smart Farming
Telemedicine services
Infrastructure and Vehicle management
Industrial use
Defense Sector
Scientific Research
Startups

STEERING COMMITTEE ON 5G – Parliament set up committee in September 2017 which was headed by AJ Paulraj. It submitted a report on August 24, 2018 proposing a plan to approve 5G. It offered various recommendations to Department of Telecommunication related to the field of Spectrum Policy, Regulatory policy, standards and education. It also advised to form a Standing Committee to strengthen infrastructure in Spectrum Technology.

GOVERNMENT’S ACTION PLAN

Government has approved of National Electronics policy 2019. Its objective is to place India as global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing.
It also encourages technology-based start-ups working in the area of 5G, IoT, Artificial Intelligence etc.
To provide inexpensive broadband to all household at the speed of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps, Bharat Net is working to develop Digital Infrastructure in the country.
5G will come into being through National Telecom Policy, it aims to speed up internet and achieve 100% tele density. It will also offer citizen-centric amenities electronically.
A high-level forum has been created by Department of Telecommunications to develop workplan for 5G services in India in 2020. It consists of three Secretaries of respective Ministries/Department – Telecom, Electronic Information and Technology and Department of Science and Technology.
On May 4,2021, DoT has permitted various mobile operators like Reliance, Bharti Airtel, VI (Vodafone Idea) and state-run telco MTNL for conducting 5G trials along with partner original equipment manufacturers (OEM). They will test technology and its applications in various sectors.
The trial will be conducted for a period of 6 months, including 2 months for obtaining and establishing the equipment.
Test will be conducted in urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
Government has advised mobile operators to maintain distance from Chinese partners to keep them out of the race. This has given a major setback to Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE.

 MAJOR CHALLENGES

Building of critical infrastructure in urban and rural areas.
Requirement of huge investments to import equipment.
Need to provide subsidy to lessen the burden on the pockets of the consumers to switch from 4G to 5G.

CONCLUSION

Picking appropriate architecture and right strategy implementation to choose among wide range of spectrum would increase chance of success.
Keeping in mind about their final product they should use agile techniques while testing.
Testing should also measure the user experience along with the quality to ensure that commercial traffic is benefitted.

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