India is among top three nations with the highest 5G base, roll-out remarkable, says Nokia Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- IBEF
- October 9, 2023
According to Mr. Pekka Lundmark, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nokia, the 5G roll-out in India has been remarkable, and the country is among the top three nations with the largest 5G installed base in the world.
He further mentioned that India's deployment of 5G has been amazing. With 5G download speeds surpassing those found in many mature markets, this has been one of the quickest telecom network roll-outs ever, placing India in the top three countries in the world with the most 5G installations.
While there has been a decline in telecom gear shipment across major geographies, the 5G roll-out in India has been able to offset a dip in the business of Ericsson and Nokia. Nokia posted 333% growth in India sales at about Rs. 9,500 crore (US$ 1.14 billion) in the June quarter of 2023.
Ericsson reported 74% growth in net sales in the June 2023 quarter in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India to around Rs. 10,700 crore (US$ 1.28 billion), of which around 90% of its business comes from India.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are expected to invest around Rs. 75,000 crore (US$ 9.01 billion) in this financial year to strengthen their networks, says a report by JM Financial. It further stated that Jio may invest around Rs 42,000 crore and Bharti Airtel around Rs. 33,000 crore (US$ 3.96 billion) in FY24, but the investment will taper down after their 5G network roll-out target is met, as per their announcement.
Mr. Ashwini Vaishnam, Union Telecom Minister, launched Nokia’s 6G lab virtually. The first-of-its-kind project aims to accelerate the development of fundamental technologies and innovative use cases underpinned by 6G technology that will address the future needs of both industry and society.
Nokia's 6G lab will serve as a venue for industry stakeholder collaboration and make it easier to test cutting-edge innovations while determining their commercial viability. 'Network as a Sensor' technology, which enables the network to perceive things, people, and movement without the need for onboard sensors, is being researched in the lab. Nokia also mentioned in one statement that this technology has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together.
Sensing will be fully integrated into the wireless network and operate simultaneously with communication services. The expertise at Nokia's Bengaluru facility will help India's goal of making significant contributions to international 6G technology standards. To further scale up the 6G research project in India, it is also developing research ties with top research institutes in the country like the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs).
India’s vision to have ubiquitous coverage under 6G technology was accepted by the UN body's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Study Group in its meeting held in Geneva, a move that is expected to reduce the cost of deployment of the next-generation technology.
Following consultation with its member nations, tech firms, and other stakeholders, the ITU makes decisions about the development of global mobile telecommunication standards. With the assistance of the Department of Telecom, industry and academic collaboration have already helped India win more than 200 patents on 6G technology.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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