Adani Group to launch private 5G network services in India this year
Adani Group, the newest entrant in India’s telecom space, is looking to launch private 5G services for enterprises in 2023. The conglomerate also announced that it would be launching consumer apps this year as part of its digital strategy.
Addressing his employees in the New Year, Chairman Gautam Adani said they will invest in expanding the network of data centers, building AI-ML and industrial cloud capabilities, along with rolling out 5G services and launching B2C apps.
“While we are fully invested in building India, it is an opportune time to contribute to nation-building outside India. All of these are big ticket, independent yet mutually connected digital opportunities that are backed by our adjacency in the energy business,” he said.
The Gujarat-based conglomerate surprised industry incumbents when it took part in 5G auctions in 2022. While Adani has not purchased spectrum across all 5G bands and thus cannot provide consumer telephony, the conglomerate parted with Rs. 212 crore to buy 400MHz spectrum in the mm-wave band. Adani is gunning to provide private network services to enterprises, including its own.
However, telecom operator Bharti Airtel beat Adani to the punch, bagging the first private 5G network deal with Mahindra Group late last year.
Reliance Jio has also indicated that private 5G will be a key avenue for monetization for the operator in the future. Chairman Mukesh Ambani has committed Rs 2 trillion investment for rolling out a 5G network across the country by December 2023, according to a recent report by the Press Trust of India.
Other entities, such as IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), could also participate in the private 5G network market. They are awaiting spectrum assignment rules from the DoT and TRAI, who are still deliberating the spectrum bands, which will be given to enterprises for private network use through administrative allocation.
References:
2 thoughts on “Adani Group to launch private 5G network services in India this year”
Comments are closed.
Yes, I Got It! I have Been Waiting for 5G services in India For a Long Time. I Visited Many Types Of Websites For News About Private 5G in India, but could not find anything.
I Found All The News About 5G Services in the IEEE Techblog. Thanks!
5G Service is Coming and Many People Don’t Know About The 5G Mobile Devices Which Will Be The Best Mobiles in The 5G Age.
Light Reading: 5G war heats up between Airtel and Jio in India
The 5G war between India’s top two telcos, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, formally started this month, with both service providers launching their 5G plans.
While both Jio and Airtel launched 5G services in October last year, they have been offering free services to users with 5G-enabled devices. Jio launched the first 5G recharge plan in January this year. This was available to all 4G users with a base tariff plan of 239 Indian rupees (US$2.89) or more. As per this plan, Jio subscribers would need to pay an additional INR61 ($0.7) to upgrade to the 5G upgrade tariff plan, which also includes 6GB of data.
Jio followed this up by introducing the JioPlus postpaid plan for a family of four. It is available in two versions, one priced at INR399 ($4.82) for 75GB data and the other at INR699 ($8.45) for 100GB data. This plan may help Jio attract postpaid customers from Bharti Airtel and, especially, Vodafone Idea, which has yet to launch 5G services. Jio now offers 5G coverage in around 406 cities across the country and is aiming to cover the entire country by December 2023. Jio is the only Indian telco to have launched 5G standalone.
Jio and Airtel seem to be fighting for postpaid users. Around 95% of Jio’s 430 million subscriber base is using its prepaid packages and the company hopes to change this with the launch of 5G services. However, this is possible only if it can attract postpaid users of other telcos or move its prepaid users to postpaid. It is tougher for Jio to attract postpaid subscribers of other telcos because they are typically not as price-sensitive as prepaid users.
Airtel reacted to Jio’s offers by launching an unlimited 5G data plan with the aim to “inspire customers to explore the potential of the Airtel 5G Plus network.” However, Airtel’s 5G network is available in only 270 cities in India, while Jio offers 5G in 400+ cities.
Competition will intensify
Airtel has granted its postpaid subscribers and prepaid users who pay INR239 ($2.89) or more unlimited access to 5G data. It further lowered the entry-level tariff for postpaid family plans by launching a INR599 ($7.24) tariff and two other plans costing INR799 ($9.66) and INR998 ($12.07) as part of its all-in-one Airtel Black offering. While Jio’s family plan is cheaper than Airtel’s, it doesn’t include any OTT offering.
Airtel’s focus on postpaid customers is clear, given it recently increased base tariffs from INR99 ($1.19) to INR155 ($1.87) for prepaid customers.
While Airtel and Reliance Jio slug it out in the 5G market, India’s third-largest service provider, Vodafone Idea, is yet to launch 5G services in the country. The competition will possibly heat up further once Vodafone Idea joins the fray.
The coming few months will see the competition between Jio and Airtel for greater market share intensify, especially in the more lucrative enterprise segment.
https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/5g-war-heats-up-between-airtel-and-jio-in-india/d/d-id/783966?