Led by Reliance Jio, the mega 5G spectrum auction ended on Monday.Mr Vaishnaw said he expects the rollout of 5G which government says can provide data speeds about 10 times faster than 4G.India has drawn bids worth about Rs.1,49,966 cr. on Saturday’s fifth day of sale. The 5G auction shows that the industry wants to expand as it has come out of problems and is getting into a growth phase.”The low level of fiberization at present will necessitate network capex of 1.5-2.5 lakh crore in the next 2-3 years . However, with fiberisation at 35.11% in India as of June 2022, more than 3 lakh km has to be covered at the pan-India between fiscal 2023-2025”, according to a report by Crisil Research.
Compared to India ,South Korea has fiberized 65-70% of its sites,while in the US Japan and China, the level of fiberization is 80-90%, according to Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA).
5G requires huge infrastructure and investment from the service provider. We are still at the beginning stage of implementation. The 5G handset penetration also remains low in India at 15-20%, The shortage in semiconductor chips has resulted in an increase in price of 5G handsets which could limit robust penetration this fiscal.
A report by Goldman Sachs Equity Research mentioned that 5G rollouts have not resulted in any “meaningful uptick in capex for telecom companies globally, and it foresees a similar trend in India”.
However, Prabhu Ram Head-Industry Intelligence Group [IIG],CMR, feels that with the imminent roll-out of 5G services in the near horizon,”telecom operators will potentially seek to be aggressive in their 5G pricing plans to gain early consumer acceptance, and thereby, secure their leadership mantle in 5G”.
