5G to propel India’s economic growth with improved urban to rural connectivity

• 90% of the consumers will be looking for a digitally enhanced shopping journey whether engaging at home, via mobile or inside a physical location
• Indian telecom industry to grow by US$12.5 billion every three years; Market for AR/VR technologies likely to reach USD 1.634 billion (INR 13,070) crores by 2025

National, 15 December 2022: With the advent of 5G and the potential to boost innovation across the globe, Deloitte India and CII in a report released today have projected the Indian telecom industry to grow by US$12.5 billion every three years. India is all set to pave its path towards ‘AtmanirbharBharat’ as 5G will accelerate economic growth, increasing job opportunities and connecting the urban and rural population. It will drive efficiency in critical sectors, such as energy, healthcare, and agriculture, a step in the direction of not only commercial consideration but also social outcomes.

Together with ultra-low latency and high data rates, 5G is expected to create avenues of collaboration and alliances as well as drive India to reimagine a whole new way of engaging in the new, faster, agile digital world.

Newer trends will emerge like smartphones becoming bigger and slimmer, likely becoming more foldable or expandable. Given the embedded 5G hardware, technology will be seen summarising the world in our hands via smartphones seamlessly bending reality into virtual reality.

Digital experiences will transform traditional shopping behaviours and the focus will be on providing enhanced customer experiences by combining the benefits of physical brick-and-mortar stores with immersive shopping platforms.

While telecom companies continue to strengthen their 5G capabilities and build a robust infrastructure, various state governments are gearing up for the adoption of 5G connectivity for good governance.

In addition, the allocation of spectrum licences to non-telecoms will help promote nonpublic captive networks which would not only yield benefits for major telecom and technology companies, but also strengthen India's start-up ecosystem, enabling them to operate as system integrators for enterprises and administer their 5G private networks. Deloitte expects a spurt in private network requirements in Indian industries once the benefits of the shift have been realised, ultimately solidifying the B2B enterprise telco story.

Peeyush Vaish, Partner and telecom sector leader, Deloitte India said “With the right mindset and technological prowess, the Indian Telecommunication Industry can use 5G to accelerate economic growth and resilience in the country. 5G is also expected to empower organizations to act on rich datasets in real-time, offering unprecedented visibility, insights, and control over assets, products, and services. We also expect a surge in the requirement for private networks in Indian industries once they comprehend the benefits of shifting to 5G network.”

He added, “While the current outlook for the Telecom sector looks stable, there is a need for telecom companies to revisit their strategies and keep pace with keep pace with new technologies and evolving marketplace.
Apart from commercial benefits, 5G can also work as a growth propeller for Industry 4.0 by facilitating use of Information and communication technology (ICT) across sectors like manufacturing, education, healthcare, agriculture, finance and others. This will not only transform businesses in India but also create value for the society at large.”

Key trends emerging:

• 5G transforming ideas to reality: 5G will cater to the rising need for high-end digital infrastructure required across all human experiences from entertainment to education and beyond. The increasing demand for immersive content across various industrial sectors such as healthcare, edTech, manufacturing and retail, among others will necessitate the high-speed 5G network as a driver for seamless connectivity within the ecosystem
• Telecom Infrastructure: The 5G Footing: Recent trends such as cloudification, orchestration, and virtualization are enabling extremely agile and scalable networks. A typical broadband and mobile network consists of several passive infrastructure components which combine to become a complete ecosystem forming the base for all deployments in the telecom sector
• New smartphone market vs 5G uptake: Demand for smartphones is anticipated to rise as internet usage increases; this demand will be fuelled by the requirement to adopt fintech, e-health, and e-learning
• 5G as a benison to Indian economy: One of the direct economic benefits will come from the efficiency gains associated with operations, processing, and communications; all of which will contribute to cost reduction and improvement of margins
• Ameliorating the 5G Ecosystem: The approval of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes is expected to improve investor sentiment, attract more investment into India, stimulate innovation and R&D and reduce the significant imports of telecom equipment, thus demonstrating the government's commitment to its flagship programme, "Atmanirbhar Bharat”

This press release has been issued by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.
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