BS Number Wise: Why India's connectivity gap needs affordable 5G technology

Fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology is speeding up the world, with 79 markets having commercial services already. India’s spectrum auction in early August and Mukesh Ambani’s announcement that Reliance Industries will invest Rs 2 trillion in the technology has kept 5G in the headlines.

The technology’s fast and reliable internet promises to create new ecosystems of connected homes and cities, as it potentially brings in billions in mobile revenue globally. It is expected to account for 64 per cent of total mobile service revenue by 2026. It will account for 37.7 per cent of India’s total mobile service revenue or $9 billion by 2026 (see chart 1). 

The gender gap in access to mobile internet is higher in India than in many other emerging countries. While most countries have a 1-2 percentage point difference, the gap in India is 10 percentage points (see chart 2).

India is around six years behind China in active mobile broadband service penetration; it is seven years behind Brazil and eight years behind Russia (see chart 3). The per capita GDP figure in peer emerging market economies is between 100-540 per cent higher than in India. The coming of 5G technology will add over $1 trillion to global GDP by 2030, some estimates say.