As India readies for 5G, adoption patterns of the technology could be up for a change here. From business cases or device-to-device communications (facilitating Internet of Things), the post pandemic new normal – specially work from home requirements – will see faster adoption of the 5G by individuals, says Jasmeet Sethi, Head of Consumer Lab, Ericsson.

According to the recently released report, at least 40 million smartphone users in India could take up 5G in the first year with some consumers willing to pay a premium. Home broadband services could be up for a reshuffle with introduction of 5G.

In an interview to BusinessLine , Sethi talks about India’s 5G willingness and user adoption patterns, the cost factor for telecos and how a post pandemic new normal will see more reliance on high speed connectivity. Excerpts:

When do you expect 5G operations in India?

As you know, trials have begun. Yes, we are a bit delayed on this and ideally the 5G launch should have happened by now. But we are optimistic of services getting rolled out by the end of this yearor 2022.

We have seen the ecosystem fumble on issues like devices, data pack pricing, and so on, everytime a new technology has come up, say from 2G to 3G or 3G to 4G. How prepared is it now?

At present, the Indian ecosystem is more geared up for 5G launches than what it was in previous cases. There are 5G devices out now. In most cases, the device launches followed only after the technology rollouts happened.

Our research shows, by the end of 2020, some 22 per cent users will have 5G-ready handsets and are willing to take up subscriptions or data plans. Many are willing to upgrade too. There are close to 470 5G enabled devices in India, at present.

Apart from flagships, most smart-phone launches in India in the mid-premium to premium (₹15,000 and upwards) ranges for 2021 are 5G ready. For example, Samsung’s A-series (in the budget segment) and all Galaxy (premium and flagships) support the new technology.

As 5G rolls out and there is increased adoption, device costs will also come down too, as has been the case with hardware and technology.

Who will be first adopters of 5G?

Compared to the earlier belief that there will be B2B or device-to-device communication as first adopters, the pandemic has triggered new behaviour. Work-from-home is a reality, as are home offices. So first users will be individuals, say professionals or entrepreneurs, people needing faster data connection or streaming on their devices.

There could be scenarios where people reduce Wi-Fi usage and opt for 5G wireless broadband services – home broadband or mobile adoptions.

Elsewhere, in European nations, the early 5G users spend an average of two hours more on cloud gaming and one hour more on augmented reality (AR) apps per week compared to 4G users. So gamers – a segment that is on the rise in India – could also be adopters of this technology.

For 12-24 months, the initial adoption will be in cities, then move downtown into the suburbs and finally into Tier-3 or Tier 4 regions. Till then, other existing technologies will remain popular.

Will the technology come at a premium then?

Consumers in India are willing to pay 50 per cent more for 5G plans with bundled digital services, compared to just 10 per cent premium for 5G connectivity.

Our consumer lab research shows 67 per cent of users have expressed an intention to take up 5G once it is available, an increase of 14 percentage points over 2019.

Moreover, 7 in 10 potential early adopters of 5G in India expect higher speeds than 4G, while 6 in 10 expect pricing innovation from service providers like 5G data sharing between family members or across devices.

Do telcos see a reason to invest in infra?

5G is the fifth generation of cellular networks, an ultra-reliable low latency communications technology. It is spectrally more efficient. Affordable price of spectrum needs to be made available to the operators. Ericsson is ready to roll out 5G in India as we have already deployed it in over 85 live networks globally.

For telcos, 5G reduces the cost per GB for mobile operators, by a factor of 10, sometimes. 5G will also allow them to take advantage of new revenue streams like industrial digitisation, bundling and so on.

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