At a telecom ceremony in Delhi today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced 5G services in India.
Over the coming years, the service is anticipated to gradually reach the entire nation, potentially changing the digital landscape in India.
The much-anticipated service was introduced by the PM at the 6th India Mobile Congress 2022, which took place from October 1–4 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. After Diwali, 5G services will be accessible in 13 Indian cities. According to the company’s chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, eight cities would have access to Bharti Airtel’s 5G service starting on Saturday.
PM Modi visited pavilions set up by several telecom carriers and technology providers after officially opening the show to get a firsthand look at what 5G is capable of. He began at the Reliance Jio booths, where he saw the ‘True 5G’ gadgets on exhibit and used Jio Glass to experience the use case.
He spent time learning about the homegrown development of end-to-end 5G technology, accompanied by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and billionaires Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel, and Kumar Mangalam Birla of Vodafone Idea. Then, he proceeded to the booths of Airtel, Vodafone Idea, C-DOT, and other companies.
Precision drone-based farming, high-security routers and AI-based cyber threat detection platforms, automated guided vehicles, Ambupod – a smart ambulance, augmented reality/virtual reality/mix reality in education and skill development, sewage monitoring system, smart-agri programme, health diagnostics, among others – are just a few of the many use cases that will be displayed in front of the PM during the exhibition.
“5G can unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, giving it the potential for being a transformational force for Indian society. It will help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovations by startups and business enterprises as well as advance the ‘Digital India’ vision,” an official release said.
According to experts, India will tremendously gain from 5G technology. A recent assessment by a worldwide industry association representing mobile network carriers predicted that it would likely boost the Indian GDP by 36.4 trillion ($455 billion) between 2023 and 2040.
According to earlier statements made by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, the government has set a target of 80% coverage of 5G telecom services in the nation in a short period of time.
Speaking at a recent industry gathering in the capital, Mr. Vaishnaw had remarked, “the journey of 5G is going to be very exciting and noted that many countries took multiple years to reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent coverage. But we are targeting a very aggressive timeline and the Government has given a target of 80 per cent coverage in a short time frame, and we should definitely cover at least 80 per cent in a very short timeframe.”
Source: NDTV
