Bharti Airtel to launch 5G services in India this August; Reliance Jio to follow
After numerous delays, India’s government finally completed its 5G spectrum auction on its seventh day. 5G spectrum worth 1.5 trillion Indian rupees (US $18.99 billion) being sold to the country’s three mobile network operators – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea – and Adani Group, with Jio emerging as the top bidder, according to media reports.
Bharti Airtel has announced that it has awarded its first 5G contract in the country to Ericsson with 5G deployment to get underway in August 2022. Ericsson is Airtel’s long-standing connectivity partner and pan-India managed services provider, with a partnership spanning more than 25 years. The latest 5G partnership follows the close of 5G spectrum auctions in India. In a statement, Airtel said that it will deploy power-efficient 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and solutions from the Ericsson Radio System and Ericsson microwave mobile transport solutions.
The company also signed agreements with Nokia and Samsung to build 5G capacity in India. Under the agreement, Nokia will provide equipment for AirScale portfolio, including modular and scalable baseband as well as high-capacity 5G massive MIMO radios.
Meanwhile, Ericsson will be providing 5G connectivity in 12 circles for Bharti Airtel. In addition to an enhanced user experience for Airtel customers – spanning ultra-high-speeds, low latency and large data handling capabilities – Ericsson 5G network products and solutions will also enable Bharti Airtel to pursue new, innovative use cases with its enterprise and industry customers, claimed the company.
Bharti Airtel has announced that it has acquired 19,800 MHz spectrum by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. This spectrum bank was secured for a total consideration of Rs 43,084 crore in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom, Government of India. Airtel acquired 19,867.8 MHz spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz frequency bands for Rs 43,084 crore. Airtel has secured 5G spectrum for 20 years in this auction.
Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal, MD and chief executive officer said, “As our trusted, long-term technology partner, we are delighted to award our first 5G contract to Ericsson for 5G deployment in India. “5G presents a game-changing opportunity to drive the digital transformation of industries, enterprises and the socio-economic development of India. With our 5G network, we aim to deliver the full benefits of 5G connectivity, fuel India’s journey towards a digital economy and strengthen the country’s position on the world stage.”
“5G presents a game-changing opportunity to drive the digital transformation of industries, enterprises and the socio-economic development of India. With our 5G network, we aim to deliver the full benefits of 5G connectivity, fuel India’s journey towards a digital economy and strengthen the country’s position on the world stage.”
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, says: “We look forward to supporting Bharti Airtel with its deployment of 5G in India. With Ericsson’s unrivaled, global 5G deployment experience, we will help Bharti Airtel deliver the full benefits of 5G to Indian consumers and enterprises, while seamlessly evolving the Bharti network from 4G to 5G. 5G will enable India to realize its Digital India vision and foster inclusive development of the country.”
Reliance Jio may also launch 5G in August:
It is likely that arch rival Reliance Jio too may launch the 5G services this month. “We will celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with a pan India 5G rollout. Jio is committed to offering world-class, affordable 5G and 5G-enabled services. We will provide services, platforms and solutions that will accelerate India’s digital revolution, especially in crucial sectors like education, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing and e-governance,” said Akash M Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm.
However, no disclosure of Jio’s 5G vendor(s) over two years after Ambani said Jio was developing its own “homegrown” 5G network equipment. The Business Standard reports that Jio had selected Samsung to build its pan-India 5G network.
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will introduce its 5G wireless services by Deepavali [October second half] starting with the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.
The 5G services will be rapidly expanded to other cities, in phases over 18 months, so as to cover the entire country by December 2023, Mr. Ambani told shareholders at the company’s 45th annual general meeting. “Jio’s ambitious 5G roll-out plan will be the fastest in the world,” he said.
“Jio’s 5G network will be stand-alone with zero dependency on 4G network,” he said, adding that the company’s service would “offer an unparalleled combination of coverage, capacity, quality and affordability”.
“With stand-alone 5G, Jio can deliver new and powerful services like low latency, massive machine-to-machine communication, 5G voice, Edge computing and network slicing, and metaverse,” he elaborated.
Jio has partnered with Qualcomm to develop 5G solutions tailored for India and is working with Google to develop ultra-affordable 5G smartphones, Mr. Ambani said.
With 5G, Jio would roll out billions of smart sensors with connected intelligence that would trigger Internet of Things, he said. “It will connect everyone, every place and every thing with the highest quality and most affordable data,” he added.
Indai’s 5G needs Cybersecurity:
Following the 5G spectrum auctions in India earlier this year, 5G services were launched on October 1st. With 5G, manufacturing, energy and utilities, information and communication technology and retail industries are expected to generate $17 billion in incremental revenue by 2030, as per an Ericsson-Arthur D Little study. This is because 5G networks are designed to handle the connection of billions of devices including the Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT and IIoT).
As revolutionary as the technology is, one thing is certain: history has shown us time and again that as new technologies emerge, cybercriminals aren’t far behind And as organisations — both public and private — gear up to embrace 5G, it is important to identify the cybersecurity challenges and build resilient systems to establish a line of defence.
Today, 5G networks are expected to move away from existing centralised, hardware-based switching to a more distributed, software-oriented digital routing. This software-defined approach to networking is projected to help achieve high performance as it provides tools for programming, traffic control, and network slicing. With 5G software-defined networks hardware enforcement points do not exist for traffic inspection and the control of cyber risks.
Adding to the risk is the fact that functions that were previously performed by dedicated and purpose-built physical hardware are virtualized in 5G, e.g., implemented in software. Since 5G requires internet-facing networks, this expands the threat landscape significantly.
Since 5G networks are expected to be implemented using low-cost, short-range small-cells gateways deployed across cities, the gateways themselves will become targets for threat actors. Additionally, 5G’s spectrum sharing capabilities via multiple ‘slices’ adds to the existing risk as each slice can become an entry point for an attack. Given the dynamic nature of 5G networks, an attacker who obtains control of the software managing the networks can take over the entire network through lateral movement, thus paralyzing core infrastructure that could cause disruption.
5G is expected to increase the connectedness of devices —which adds fidelity, and user convenience and increases efficiency. Here’s the catch — as many of these devices have poor security implementations, and any attack will have consequences in the real world since many of the attached devices are involved in physical activities.
It needs to be kept in mind that securing 5G requires a nuanced approach. Having robust policies to protect OT, people and processes first, then technical solutions become necessary considering the cyber-physical nature of 5G networks. Every party involved in managing and implementing 5G networks needs to consider people in all areas of the organisation on the journey, ensuring that the risks of deploying 5G devices are clear.
With cyber-attacks on 5G networks potentially posing grave threats to daily life, every player in the industry must come together to combat these threats. 5G security policies must include sharing of threat intelligence, security methodologies and interoperability within the wider community, so visibility into critical assets is possible.
Since the private sector in India largely owns and operates most telecom networks, they must partner to ensure security is intrinsically woven into the 5G infrastructure. With a shared risk model, network owners/operators will ensure that the infrastructure is as secure and available as it can be. At the same time, the public sector must assume responsibility for the security of the applications it uses.
Besides, gaining visibility into 5G networks is critical. Understanding the scale of vulnerabilities requires owners, operators and users of 5G infrastructure to work together to bridge the exposure gap. A risk-based method helps gain comprehensive visibility across the attack surface. It equips organisations to anticipate threats and prioritise preventative efforts. It also enables better communication of cyber exposure risk leading to better decisions on cybersecurity strategies.
Once 5G is widely available, both security teams and threat actors will experience a swift learning curve while navigating this new technology. The speed and reach will connect businesses more than ever before, but could also have dangerous ripple effects in terms of increased cyber risk. As we begin to adopt 5G more widely, it’s important that organisations in India keep cybersecurity top of mind, to ensure business and its people are protected.
https://www.techcircle.in/2022/11/17/india-s-5g-rollout-needs-to-be-underpinned-by-cybersecurity
Indai’s 5G needs Cybersecurity:
Following the 5G spectrum auctions in India earlier this year, 5G services were launched on October 1st. With 5G, manufacturing, energy and utilities, information and communication technology and retail industries are expected to generate $17 billion in incremental revenue by 2030, as per an Ericsson-Arthur D Little study. This is because 5G networks are designed to handle the connection of billions of devices including the Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT and IIoT).
As revolutionary as the technology is, one thing is certain: history has shown us time and again that as new technologies emerge, cybercriminals aren’t far behind And as organisations — both public and private — gear up to embrace 5G, it is important to identify the cybersecurity challenges and build resilient systems to establish a line of defence.
Today, 5G networks are expected to move away from existing centralised, hardware-based switching to a more distributed, software-oriented digital routing. This software-defined approach to networking is projected to help achieve high performance as it provides tools for programming, traffic control, and network slicing. With 5G software-defined networks hardware enforcement points do not exist for traffic inspection and the control of cyber risks.
Adding to the risk is the fact that functions that were previously performed by dedicated and purpose-built physical hardware are virtualized in 5G, e.g., implemented in software. Since 5G requires internet-facing networks, this expands the threat landscape significantly.
Since 5G networks are expected to be implemented using low-cost, short-range small-cells gateways deployed across cities, the gateways themselves will become targets for threat actors. Additionally, 5G’s spectrum sharing capabilities via multiple ‘slices’ adds to the existing risk as each slice can become an entry point for an attack. Given the dynamic nature of 5G networks, an attacker who obtains control of the software managing the networks can take over the entire network through lateral movement, thus paralyzing core infrastructure that could cause disruption.
5G is expected to increase the connectedness of devices —which adds fidelity, and user convenience and increases efficiency. Here’s the catch — as many of these devices have poor security implementations, and any attack will have consequences in the real world since many of the attached devices are involved in physical activities.
It needs to be kept in mind that securing 5G requires a nuanced approach. Having robust policies to protect OT, people and processes first, then technical solutions become necessary considering the cyber-physical nature of 5G networks. Every party involved in managing and implementing 5G networks needs to consider people in all areas of the organisation on the journey, ensuring that the risks of deploying 5G devices are clear.
With cyber-attacks on 5G networks potentially posing grave threats to daily life, every player in the industry must come together to combat these threats. 5G security policies must include sharing of threat intelligence, security methodologies and interoperability within the wider community, so visibility into critical assets is possible.
Since the private sector in India largely owns and operates most telecom networks, they must partner to ensure security is intrinsically woven into the 5G infrastructure. With a shared risk model, network owners/operators will ensure that the infrastructure is as secure and available as it can be. At the same time, the public sector must assume responsibility for the security of the applications it uses.
Besides, gaining visibility into 5G networks is critical. Understanding the scale of vulnerabilities requires owners, operators and users of 5G infrastructure to work together to bridge the exposure gap. A risk-based method helps gain comprehensive visibility across the attack surface. It equips organisations to anticipate threats and prioritise preventative efforts. It also enables better communication of cyber exposure risk leading to better decisions on cybersecurity strategies.
Once 5G is widely available, both security teams and threat actors will experience a swift learning curve while navigating this new technology. The speed and reach will connect businesses more than ever before, but could also have dangerous ripple effects in terms of increased cyber risk. As we begin to adopt 5G more widely, it’s important that organisations in India keep cybersecurity top of mind, to ensure business and its people are protected.
https://www.techcircle.in/2022/11/17/india-s-5g-rollout-needs-to-be-underpinned-by-cybersecurity
India will be able to become USD 5-trillion economy by 2027, Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Saturday May 27th. Mittal said that India is the most advanced country in the world as far as telecom is concerned.
“My generation grew up in the age of very deep and long shortages of telecom and connectivity to a point today where the deepest and remotest part of the country is using smartphones.
“We moved very quickly from technology shifts. India now has the fastest 5G roll-out in the world. By 2024 March India will have 5G connectivity across the country,” Mittal said.
India has set up 2 lakh base stations for 5G services within eight months of the launch of the service.
Mittal said that even in remote areas people see mobile phone, radio connection and a DTH television connection.
“This to my mind is the power of technology which this government has used to its utmost power to usher in reforms and benefits for the masses. I am very proud that we are part of the industry which is a great enabler for economic growth. Today telecom services give 1-1.5 per cent additional GDP growth to this country,” Mittal said.
https://www.outlookindia.com/business/india-will-be-able-to-become-5-trillion-economy-by-2027-sunil-mittal-news-290064
Eagerly waiting for Bharti Airtel to launch 5G services