[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: The availability of affordable handsets will be critical for the adoption of fifth generation or 5G technology-backed services in the country, the Cellular Operators Association of India Tuesday said.
“Affordability of handsets is a key to the adoption of 5G services, going forward,” SP Kochhar, director-general, COAI said, adding that monetisation of 5G is essential for a sustainable telecom ecosystem.
Kochhar was speaking at the Snapdragon for India summit, organised by chipsetmaker Qualcomm Technologies.
5G, according to him, should enable and catalyse innovative use cases for the consumers and enterprises.
Delhi-based telco group represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Incumbent telcos are struggling to operationalise 5G-backed enterprise use cases in the country, following the commercial rollout of next-generation networks, starting October 2022.
“The most important thing for an Indian consumer which we realize in the industry is price sensitivity and the second important thing, is that they want the best service in the world,” he said.
“The user must get a device which is affordable, and available all the time in connection with the network. And where the battery consumption is the lowest and you don’t have to recharge your phone every four hours.”
Jio and Airtel are the two telcos rolling out next generation networks aggressively, followed by Vodafone Idea.
“If you see the statistics, things are happening and growing, and we are transforming the country’s landscape by rolling out 5G networks by incorporating 4G and 2G along with 5G,” he added.
“As far as network companies are concerned, they are trying to reduce costs as much as possible so that they can carry the benefits to the subscriber. Today we are the lowest price data and yet believe despite all the criticism, we are one of the best telecom providers in the world.”
Kochhar said that all the concentration is on wireless growth, and added that 4G would likely be edged out by 5G in the next six years.
[ad_2]
Source link
