NEW DELHI: The rollout of 5G services in the country can unleash new economic opportunities and help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, according to the Economic survey released by the government on Tuesday.
The survey suggests that the journey is far from complete, and a lot remains to be accomplished to realise our true potential.
"A landmark achievement in telecommunications in India was the launch of 5G services. 5G could impact consumers directly through higher data transfer speeds and lower latency. 5G use cases developed by Telecom Service Providers and start-ups in education, health, worker safety, smart agriculture etc., are now being deployed across the country," reads the survey.
According to the survey, the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022, will facilitate faster and easier deployment of telegraph infrastructure to enable a speedy 5G rollout.
The government has brought in procedural reforms in Wireless Licensing, including delicensing of various frequency bands to promote innovation, manufacturing and export.
"The National Frequency Allocation Plan 2022 (NFAP) provides a broad regulatory framework, identifying which frequency bands are available for cellular mobile services, Wi-fi, sound and television broadcasting, radio navigation for aircraft and ships, and other wireless communications. NFAP will give guidance to the users of the spectrum to plan their networks in accordance with the relevant frequency and parameters provided therein," suggest the survey.
With the government's persistent efforts towards promoting technological development, telecommunications services have penetrated the remotest corners of the nation.
Today, the total telephone subscriber base in India stands at 117 crore (as of November 2022). While more than 97 per cent of the total subscribers are connected wirelessly (114.3 crore at the end of November 2022), 83.7 crore have internet connections as of June 2022.