5G has already reached more than 100 towns in India in about three months. In the coming days, the speed at which it is rolled out will increase even further. What's special is the effort that Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are making to ensure that every part of the country gets covered with 5G in the shortest time possible. While both the telcos have a different outlook towards the market and hence are deploying 5G with different strategies, both are trying to reach urban and rural India with 5G in the next 1 to 1.5 years. India's 5G rollout will be one of the fastest in the entire world.
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In about five years from here, the number of 5G subscriptions will surpass the number of 4G subscriptions in India. According to the latest Ericsson's Mobility report, over 53% of mobile subscriptions in 2028 will be 5G. This would mean that 4G would still be relevant for the next several years, but from 2028, 5G will finally start taking over.
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One of the biggest reasons why 5G would take some time to become a dominant technology in the consumer department is the lack of use cases. While 5G delivers great speeds, the relevant use cases of it for consumers are very few. But demand for 5G and private networks will certainly go up for enterprises.
Airtel is already leading the way in India and has several services in its portfolio for enterprises which are powered by its 5G networks. The telco had also partnered with the Mahindra group to bring 5G to the company's Chakan manufacturing unit. In hindsight, even if 5G becomes the superior technology by 2028, it would still be a fast adoption only. It would take at least two years for both operators to reach every last mile with 5G, which means that India will have almost every place covered with 5G by the end of 2024 or early 2025. Thus, if the 5G subscriptions can then surpass 4G in the other 3 years from 2025, then that means the operators and their strategy to roll out 5G fast is successful.
However, one thing that Indian consumers would strongly look at is the tariffs of 5G. While 4G is very affordable in India, the tariffs of 5G would likely be higher in a period of two to three years as the telcos implement tariff hikes.
