5G to take India's digital economy to $1 trillion by 2025
The digital revolution is well underway in India, driven by the advent and rapid adoption of 5G technology, according to a new report from global professional services firm Deloitte. By 2025, 5G technology's impact on other sectors is expected to take India’s digital economy to a staggering value of $1 trillion.
Deloitte has been monitoring the progress of India’s digital market on a regular basis, in light of the sector’s potential for exponential growth in the near future. In January, the firm released a report on India’s technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) segment with forecasts for consistent growth.
Among a range of factors the fundamental reason behind the growth is the expected expansion in the base of online users in India, which will reportedly reach 850 million people by as early as 2025. According to a new report from Deloitte, India’s digital market will surpass $1 trillion around the same period.
As per the report, this growth will primarily be facilitated by the rapid expansion of 5G technology in the country, which will not only boost revenues for the telecom sector, but is expected to have a far reaching impact across other industries as well. For the telecom sector, 5G offers significant enhancements on the current Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
Specifically, these enhancements will allow for more cost-effective access to the spectrum, and consequently a low-cost method of network distribution. The enhancements also offer greater energy efficiency and consist of smaller cells that enable more network density, all in addition to offering greater network performance.
Internet speeds under 5G technologies are being designed to reach up to 10 GBPS with a latency of less than 1 millisecond. Speeds of this nature will strongly facilitate the Internet of Things revolution that is making its way through the digital market in India, as will the higher frequency rates employed by the network.
The expansive reach of the new technology has not escaped the attention of policy makers. The Government of India’s Department of Telecom has called for the development of a strategic plan to facilitate the introduction of 5G technology across the country, included in its Draft National Digital Communication Policy.
The Department of Telecom has also established the ‘5G India 2020’ forum as a platform for discussion and the exchange of ideas. The objective of the forum is to develop an ecosystem for the commercialisation of 5G technology, with hopes that 5G services can be made operational in India by 2020.
The new technology has also created room for new players in the networking supply chain. As explained by Hemant Joshi, TMT Leader at Deloitte India, “New business models and intermediaries are emerging in the 5G value chain to cater to the need for connectivity and for providing differentiated services to niche market segments as well as customers.”
