Ericsson's 5G Technologies Promise Huge Benefits For Operators And Consumers

India is currently poised at the cusp between 4G and 5G technologies. As global players await the domestic spectrum auction and ready themselves to roll out their offerings in the world’s fastest-growing telecom market, we look at what one key player, Ericsson, has to offer.

- Nijhum Rudra

Over the past few years, there has been a buzz of anticipation in India around 5G. Globally, the Swedish telecommunications firm Ericsson has been one of the key players to roll out this technology. Its key competitors, Huawei and Nokia are also in the race, in partnership with other international telecom operators. There is widespread speculation, though, that Huawei being banned in the US market could benefit its key competitors.

According to sources at Ericsson, the technology is ready for roll-out, but India is yet to allocate 5G spectrum to operators even for 5G trials. Experts claim that the operators’ huge debts and the overall cash crunch is also delaying 5G spectrum auctions, but the situation is expected to change for the better, soon.

A month back, Huawei had announced that it was fully confident of being able to roll out 5G across the Indian market within 20 days, once the firm is given permission by the concerned authorities. In an interview with a leading newspaper, Huawei India CEO, Jay Chen, said, “We are committed to the India market and will be happy to work with service providers and enterprises to bring out 5G faster, safer and smarter to this market.”

He also stated during this interview that India’s rapid pace of digitisation is being driven by the government’s commitment towards digitising key aspects of the economy.

‘Barcelona Unboxed’ in Gurugram

Amidst many speculations, controversies and in a fiercely competitive field of players, Ericsson unveiled its latest technologies for 5G at the world’s biggest mobile trade show, MWC 2019, in Barcelona. These technologies are expected to benefit both users and operators on a massive scale.