India: becoming 5G-ready

In this report, the GSMA provides insights, based on its global perspective, on how India can best become 5G-ready. A number of reports have been released in India on this issue, including the following:

• Making India 5G Ready¹, released in August 2018 by the 5G High Level Forum, under the overview of the Department of Telecommunications. The forum included members from other areas of government (the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Department of Science & Technology), industry (including mobile operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and BSNL) and academia. The report contains a number of insights and suggestions, which are broadly in line with many of the GSMA’s own positions.
• A White Paper on Enabling 5G in India², released in February 2019 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI); this included detailed insights into enabling 5G deployment in India.

Underpinning these reports runs an ambitious National Digital Communications Policy issued by the Department of Telecommunications in 2018. The three main missions of the Policy – ‘Connect India’, ‘Propel India’ and ‘Secure India’ – are relevant to the timely adoption of 5G. Achieving these goals will require significant deployments of new infrastructure, a sustainable investment climate, a competitive market structure and a suitable framework around privacy and data protection. The GSMA would like to commend the relevant Indian institutions for their thoroughness and understanding, and offers the following insights and recommendations to ensure that adoption of 5G in India is sustainable and achieves the results intended, within an appropriate timescale.

¹Making India 5G Ready, India Department of Telecommunications, 2018

²See “TRAI releases White Paper on Enabling 5G in India”, TRAI, February 2019