Reliance Jio, in response to a consulting paper printed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), titled Digital Transformation via 5G Ecosystem, urged that the federal government ought to body a coverage to shut down the 2G and 3G networks in India and transfer the present customers to 4G and 5G networks. In a separate response, Vodafone Idea (Vi) additionally made the identical suggestion and highlighted that the existence of such obstacles lead to a digital divide and impacts the ecosystem for 5G use instances.
The regulatory physique sought opinions on the obstacles to the event of the ecosystem for 5G use instances, which want to be addressed and the potential coverage and regulatory interventions that may overcome them. Responding to this, Reliance Jio acknowledged, “The Government should come out with a policy and glidepath for closing down the 2G and 3G networks completely so that unnecessary network costs should be avoided, and all customers can be migrated to 4G and 5G services.” The telecom operator added that this may even enhance the creating ecosystem to 5G use instances.
Separately, Vodafone Idea additionally submitted its suggestion highlighting a comparable measure. “The inability of users to switch to smartphones on account of the cost of these devices also leads to the users continuing on older technology and hence, not using digital services and most likely ending up being not updated on latest digital technologies and services,” it added.
The two main points with shifting customers to a greater community bandwidth embrace the abundance of telephones utilized in India which might be solely 2G/3G succesful, and the pricing of the 4G and 5G enabled smartphones that could be unaffordable for the agricultural and distant inhabitants of the nation. Vodafone Idea highlighted the problem as properly and acknowledged that the price of smartphones for low-income teams is a very huge problem.
Reliance Jio additionally underlined the need for the supply and allocation of a “massive amount” of spectrum bands to higher implement a strong 5G connectivity. To remedy this, the telecom operator urged that the 6GHz band, full C-Band, and 28GHz (on a versatile use foundation) also needs to be auctioned, together with the deliberate public sale of the E-Band and V-Band spectrum.
It ought to be famous that these are simply the recommendations given to TRAI by Telecom Service Providers and different enablers of the ecosystem. The suggestion doesn’t make sure that the federal government will take lively steps to shut down the 2G and 3G networks. In case, the Centre does transfer forward with the proposed suggestion, residents will get an ample period of time and help from the federal government to make the transition straightforward.
