| | JANUARY 20188Consultants ReviewGAUGING THE TECH READINESS: IS INDIA READY FOR 5G BY 2020?Established in 2006, TRANSSION Holdings is a global company dedicated to providing most favored mobile communication products and mobile internet services for local consumers in emerging markets. A post postgraduate in computer science Marco Ma began his career with Huawei Technologies back before 2 decades and currently holds the position of managing director in Transsion India. By Marco Ma, MD, Transsion Indiaround half a decade back, there were substantial apprehensions about digital adoption within India. The nation housed more than a seventh of the world's population, but smartphone users in the country accounted for less than a fourth of its total population. Given the near non-existence of digital literacy outside of major urban centers, it was largely believed that Indian masses would take their fair share of time to get acquainted with digital technologies. Such perceptions dissolved into thin air during the 2016 demonetization drive.During the economic overhaul, mobile-led digital technologies ensured that the economic machinery of the country kept on ticking, despite the sudden withdrawal of almost 86 percent of bank notes from circulation. The move was also phenomenal in terms of changing the widely-held perception that digital adoption was not necessary, and has since brought an increasing number of consumers across India under technology's fold. But even as digital adoption continues to grow at a staggering pace and mobile-led technologies become increasingly commonplace, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that India remains at the forefront of the ongoing digital revolution.While, the government's push to move to 5G may be driven by the logic that India, one of the world's largest markets for telecom services, should not be left behind when the world shifts to 5G but, 2020 is certainly too short a deadline for telcos. In fact, India's 4G ecosystem is not even mature yet, the country has slowly started to adopt it and this clearly could be the reason of delay in rolling out 5G by the proposed deadline.An extension of the deadline to 2022 will ease out the telcos who're already under a lot of financial stress. For 5G to proliferate in India, operators need to overcome existing financial stress and revisit the existing business models.Connecting a billion users: Where do the present-day networks' capabilities stand?The Indian smartphone market is going through a massive shift and is poised to grow exponentially. Having enjoyed high-speed internet connectivity on-the-go with 3G and 4G deployments, the promise of a more evolved and ever-connected world seems to be around the corner. The digital world takes quantum leaps with every new development that brings us closer to making 5G technology a tangible reality. Although the technology is in its nascent stages but it will soon make inroads into our daily lives.However, to count on the challenges concerning roll out of 5G as per the proposed deadline, most Indian mobile network operators currently have limited AIN MY OPINION
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