India eyes 5G by 2022

India will rollout fifth generation mobile networks across the country by 2022, according to its Minister for Telecoms.

In doing so, the country will increase the size of its fibre network backbone from 1.5 million kilometres to 2.5 million kilometres, dramatically improving both backhaul and fronthaul capabilities.

India has some of the fastest rising data consumption levels in the world, as Indian consumers take advantage of rock bottom data prices.

Despite the rapidly growing data consumption levels, India's telecom's secretary Aruna Sundararajan does not feel that there is a need to rush out 5G deployment in the country.

“We are not there yet,” she said in an interview with The Business Standard in New Delhi.

“5G won’t be driven by supply, it’ll be driven by demand and the rest of the industry needs to wake up to this.”

With over 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, India is one of the world's biggest and most competitive marketplace. Coupled with the country's sprawling landmass and varied topography, 5G rollout in India will present operators and stakeholders with a host of unique challenges.

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