5G deployment still a few years away in India due to spectrum allocation constraints: Ericsson

Ericsson said 5G deployment in India is still a few years away due to spectrum allocation related constraints in the market.

“The overall telecom market in South East Asia, Oceania and India has strong fundamentals in terms of the growth in subscriptions, smartphone penetration, and data consumption. At the same time, operators are challenged by intense competition and the cost of managing increased data traffic,” said Nunzio Mirtillo Head of Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India.

“However, spectrum allocation constraints mean that the majority of 5G deployments across South East Asia and India are a few years away,” he added.

In India, the government is planning to conduct the next spectrum auction in Q1 FY21, where it is supposed to auction both 4G and 5G airwaves. Private telcos like Airtel and Vodafone Idea, however, highlighted that spectrum was overpriced and needed to be brought down substantially if the Prime Minister's vision for ‘Digital India’ was to become a reality.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman RS Sharma recently contented that 5G base price was recommended after industry feedback, saying all telcos unanimously had called for lower prices in the 5G band of 3.3-3.6 GHz and the 700 MHz bands. The claim was rejected by telcos.

Ericsson said that the demand for 5G is growing across most markets as a means of increasing efficiency, improving customer experience and creating new revenue opportunities.

“5G has been launched commercially in Australia and there have been 5G trials during 2019 across India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam,” Mirtillo concluded.