Missing the signals on 5G

Context: At the first virtual India Mobile Congress, the PM gave a clarion call for the use of 5G technology to empower millions of Indians.

Ways for an effective and timely roll out of 5G technology in India:

• Lower the reserve price for the forthcoming auction: The pricing should be such that it encourages investments in networks
  • A task force constituted by the finance ministry had pointed out that the 5G reserve price in India was much higher than it was in other parts of the world.
• Divided industry should work together: This is not an easy task as we have already witnessed division within the industry; While Jio is in a hurry to ride 5G, Bharti Airtel is ready to wait a while.
  • Along with Bharti Airtel, others in the industry, including Vodafone Idea, have been opposed to the Rs492-crore per megahertz reserve price for 5G spectrum.
• Measures to be taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI):
  • It should take another look at the 5G draft to align it with the changing requirements.
  • Taking steps to help the consumers: as done by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) where it stopped a leading private bank from adding new customers for credit card and halted the lender’s digital service expansion.

Some problems in the telecom sector

• High level of call drops: and network congestion.
• Low operator attendance: In wireless services, only 76.3 % calls from users could be attended by operators within 90 seconds against a benchmark of 95 %
• Lag in termination and closure of accounts:  Termination or closure of an account should be 100 % within seven days, but in reality, it is just 0.91%.
• Lags in refund:  Any refund should happen without fail in 60 days, but only 60 % is happening in that period.

Conclusion: Improving the quality of service is a precondition before the launch of 5G technology.