India’s 5G deployment is expanding rapidly with almost half the population (49%) expected to be using the mobile technology by the end of the decade, according to new figures released by the GSMA ahead of its involvement in October’s India Mobile Congress.
Following India’s successful 5G auction in 2022, the GSMA’s Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2024 report, forecasts that the country can lead the world’s second wave of 5G deployment, for the economic benefit of industries including manufacturing and fintech, as well as society as a whole.
The report also shows that India is one of the seven countries in Asia Pacific, leading the way when it comes to the commercial deployment of 5G Stand Alone (SA) networks, providing India’s developer community with the opportunity to create new 5G mobile applications. The country now has more than 1.2 billion smartphone connections, making it one of Asia Pacific’s top three smartphone markets, with adoption set to rise to 95% by 2030.
For example, Jio has deployed more than one million 5G cell sites for its SA network in India and has introduced network slicing with dedicated slices for gaming, high-security services and Fixed Wireless Access customers, among other applications.
The GSMA, the global mobile industry association, is outlining these new findings during a week-long delegation visit around India, in which it is hosting two industry roundtables in Chennai and Mumbai, as well as attending a series of governmental meetings in New Delhi ahead of its presence at India Mobile Congress in October.
Working with industry partners, the GSMA will host two roundtables this week, titled: “Advancing Manufacturing with 5G: From Smart Factories to Supply Chain Efficiency” in Chennai and “AI and 5G Advanced: Uniting forces for Smarter Telecom Networks” in Mumbai.
The Mobile Economy Report shows that India will also be one of Asia Pacific’s leaders when it comes to the licensed cellular Internet of Things (IoT) market, which is set to double in size in the region between 2023 and 2030 with a CAGR of 9%. Industrial IoT will be one of the key topics of the GSMA’s Chennai roundtable, which will explore the future of 5G in manufacturing and the vast potential it holds for improving productivity, efficiency and waste production through smart factories and automated guided vehicles in the supply chain.
Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, said: “India already has the third largest user base of 5G in the world and is on track to become one of the top telecoms superpowers by the end of the decade. The government’s ambition to accelerate this digital transformation will help it reach its goal of becoming the world’s third largest economy by 2030.”
“The GSMA looks forward to meeting with government and industry this week to explore further initiatives that can drive forward 5G progress and discuss how we can support them ahead of India Mobile Congress,” he said.
Looking Ahead to India Mobile Congress, October 2024
The GSMA will be increasing its presence at India Mobile Congress this year with attendance from its global leadership team, meetings with government and industry associations and an exhibition pavilion.
The GSMA’s Director General Mats Granryd and Head of Asia Pacific, Julian Gorman will participate in the industry CEO breakfast hosted by DoT, as well as meet with Indian dignitaries, during Congress. Chief Regulatory Officer John Giusti will be participating in the TRAI International Regulatory Conference.
Meanwhile GSMA delegates will be participating at the Network of Women for WTSA-24 event on October 17th. Last year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi brought digital inclusion to the forefront of global policy discussions and set a target to halve the digital gender gap by 2030. The GSMA’s recent Mobile Gender Gap report shows that India is taking strides to improve the situation, with a 10 percent reduction in its mobile gender gap in the past year.
