The 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system.
Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and industry leaders Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Kumar Mangalam Birla of Vodafone Idea were present at the event.
PM Modi went around pavilions set up by different telecom operators and technology providers to get a first-hand experience of what 5G can do. He spent time understanding the indigenous development of end-to-end 5G technology.
It is expected to vastly improve several sectors like online education, mining, warehousing and telemedicine. It is expected to boost the Indian economy by ushering in another era of digital revolution.
The commercial rollout in 13 cities in the initial phase is expected around Diwali.
Here are the key points from the 5G launch event and how it is going to change the user experience:
- Three major telecom operators of the country- Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea- demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister various use cases of 5G technology in India at the launch event on Saturday.
- At the Reliance Jio’s stall the PM witnessed the ‘True 5G’ devices displayed and experienced the use case through Jio Glass.
- Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and industry leaders Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Kumar Mangalam Birla of Vodafone Idea were present at the launch event in New Delhi.
- 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system
- It is expected to vastly improve several sectors like online education, mining, warehousing and telemedicine.
- Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea will initially launch 5G in a few cities across the country, these include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune.
- 5G tariffs will be on par with that of 4G prepaid plans, as per Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister. Although a tariff hike is not ruled out, industry leaders think it will not worry the customers too much.
What is 5G?
5G is the next generation mobile network capability that can facilitate transmission of a large set of data at a high speed. 5G has a low latency (efficiency to process a certain volume of data with a minimal delay) with the potential to be up to 10 times faster than 4G. The 5G rollout is also expected to bring more development in remote data monitoring in sectors such as mining, warehousing, telemedicine, and manufacturing, among others. Other sectors where 5G will benefit customers is edge computing.
Will 4G SIM work in a 5G phone
In order to get 5G connectivity, one must have a 5G-enabled smartphone/ tablet. A report says that 9.7% of smartphones in use in India are 5G-capable. When 4G was launched, telecom providers started disseminating 4G SIM cards to people in India. Thanks to the technology, we won’t be needing to line-up or apply for a new SIM to get benefits of 5G services.
A 4G SIM can work in 5G-powered phones, however, you won’t be able to leverage the 5G capabilities to the fullest. To enjoy the 5G network to its maximum potential, one is required to have a 5G SIM with a 5G phone.
