5G in India soon? Are we ready for 5G network? | 5G in India

5G Networks

Samsung, Huawei, LG, Xiaomi and other smartphone manufacturers have been working since a long time on 5G and witthin the next year, many 5G enabled smartphones are expected to hit the market. But is India ready for 5G? Are 5G networks and protocols ready to be implemented worldwide? In this post we talk about the 5G Networks and the challenges associated with 5G in India.

Nothing can be said about the time of  launch of 5G network in India. It is speculated that Reliance Jio can launch 5G SIMs in 2019. 5G network is very fast & reliable compared to 4G. Theoretically users can get 5G speeds anywhere in 300 Mbps to 1000 Mbps range with the new 5G networks.

Research is going on around 6th, 7th, 8th and some upcoming generations of networks but while the progress seems to never cease, it is interesting to stop and have a look at the challenges involved in practically implementing 5G network in India and the world. Countries like South Korea, China, Japan and the United States are already working on rolling out the 5G technology soon. But for a country like India, where even the 4G network is not well established, there is still a long way to go.

Issues with 5G network

There are many issues that telecom companies and smartphone manufacturers need to deal with to successfully prepare a country for 5G network.

• High frequency of 5G Network:

To achieve "Up to 10 times the 4th Generation network" is no joke. High Frequency 5G band utilizes sub 30GHz frequency while even lower and mid band 5G networks utilize sub 6 GHz frequency band which is insanely high.

• Poor range of 5G Networks: 

Such high frequencies are highly vulnerable to external interference. Consider the 2.4 GHz band that most of our WiFi routers use. WiFi signals get weaker with increasing distance and obstacles like walls affect the signal strength. This problem intensifies as we move up the frequency range. Sub 30GHz 5G signals would be absorbed by walls very easily.

• Cost of 5G smartphones: 

To solve this problem, smartphone manufactures will have to add multiple antennas inside the phone because if user covers one antenna with her hand, other antennas will compensate for the signal strength loss. Smartphones which utilize 5G networks would cost a bomb. Manufacturers and telecom operators will be spending billions on developing 5G network and then leverage R&D fees on the phones supporting the nascent 5G technology.

• Health Hazards of 5G Networks:

Telecom companies will have to set up cell phone towers at very short distances. Imagine having a cellphone tower at every traffic signal. Naturally, concerns about the health related hazards of the 5G network would arise.

There seems no way around as of now and till these issues are resolved, 5G network in India is a far cry from reality. The technology itself is not mature enough at this stage, which makes us raise questions about it's feasibility. The fact that 5G in India is going to be a big deal and in the upcoming decade we may see a rise of super high speed networks which may change the very way we use our computers and smartphones. Applications of high speed 5G networks are unlimited. But hey, let's save that discussion for a future post.

Ravi Rao, Digitrovert