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Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
The search is on behind closed doors; 5G has to reach there
Synopsis Despite the push from telecom carriers and the government, providing seamless 4G and 5G connectivity inside buildings in India faces hurdles. High-frequency spectrum challenges signal penetration, while low average revenue per user impacts the financial viability of in-building solutions. Efforts are underway by TRAI and DoT to improve indoor connectivity and address regulatory hurdles. Representative image. New Delhi: The ongoing initiatives to provide 4G and 5G connectivity inside buildings and establishments are mired with challenges, despite a proactive push from the private telecom carriers and the government, said industry India, the deployment of in-building solutions (IBS) began around 2016-17 with the launch of 4G, and has accelerated recently with the densification of 5G networks, which use a combination of spectrum bands with varying propagation and material penetration characteristics. Network testing firm Ookla said the trend towards higher frequency spectrum for 5G, for instance, the 3.5 GHz mid-band, limits the ability of the existing mobile network sites to provide high-speed mobile coverage deep indoors. 'The signals that mid-band 5G networks rely on struggle to penetrate the materials in their path when the user is indoors,' it said. The significance of consistent indoor connectivity can be noted by the fact that mobile users, on average, consume 80% of data indoors, a proportion that is only going to increase with the advent of more 5G-driven applications, according to Sweden's Ericsson. But the segment has immense growth potential. Globally, the in-building wireless market size is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2024 to $35.5 billion by 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets Research. The emergence of smart devices, including IoT devices and wearables, is contributing to the expansion of the in-building wireless market, it said. IBS deployment not only has enormous potential to provide indoor connectivity but also to significantly transform the customer experience, business operations, revenue streams and overall market positioning for India's commercial establishments, according to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The industry body represents India's top telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. IBS infrastructure comprises small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS), and optical fibre cable (OFC). 'In India, (IBS) deployments are largely concentrated in high-profile, large-scale public infrastructure, such as airports, premium residential complexes, and expansive commercial developments. This is primarily due to the unfavorable economics of IBS in most other settings,' said Kunal Bajaj, CEO & co-founder of the need for improved indoor coverage is urgent and would significantly enhance macro network efficiency and user experience, low average revenue per user (ARPU) challenge the financial viability of many potential projects, he said. 'As a result, the market remains underpenetrated despite clear demand,' Bajaj Kochhar, however, said that despite ARPUs not being optimal, the telecom industry is still continuously investing in network infrastructure upgrades. 'In fact, TSPs have taken the initiative of having innovative partnership models with enterprises and infrastructure providers, which increasingly take care of the investment-related issues to the best possible extent,' he added. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), too, has been undertaking efforts along with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the industry to improve in-building connectivity. In its recommendations on "Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity", the sector regulator suggested a property manager should be permitted to set-up, operate, maintain, and expand IBS within a single building, compound, or estate without requiring authorisation from the central government.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
The search is on behind closed doors; 5G has to reach there
Despite the push from telecom carriers and the government, providing seamless 4G and 5G connectivity inside buildings in India faces hurdles. High-frequency spectrum challenges signal penetration, while low average revenue per user impacts the financial viability of in-building solutions. Efforts are underway by TRAI and DoT to improve indoor connectivity and address regulatory hurdles. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads TRAI, DoT initiatives New Delhi: The ongoing initiatives to provide 4G and 5G connectivity inside buildings and establishments are mired with challenges, despite a proactive push from the private telecom carriers and the government, said industry India, the deployment of in-building solutions (IBS) began around 2016-17 with the launch of 4G, and has accelerated recently with the densification of 5G networks, which use a combination of spectrum bands with varying propagation and material penetration testing firm Ookla said the trend towards higher frequency spectrum for 5G, for instance, the 3.5 GHz mid-band, limits the ability of the existing mobile network sites to provide high-speed mobile coverage deep indoors. 'The signals that mid-band 5G networks rely on struggle to penetrate the materials in their path when the user is indoors,' it significance of consistent indoor connectivity can be noted by the fact that mobile users, on average, consume 80% of data indoors, a proportion that is only going to increase with the advent of more 5G-driven applications, according to Sweden's the segment has immense growth the in-building wireless market size is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2024 to $35.5 billion by 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets emergence of smart devices, including IoT devices and wearables, is contributing to the expansion of the in-building wireless market, it deployment not only has enormous potential to provide indoor connectivity but also to significantly transform the customer experience, business operations, revenue streams and overall market positioning for India's commercial establishments, according to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The industry body represents India's top telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea . IBS infrastructure comprises small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS), and optical fibre cable (OFC).'In India, (IBS) deployments are largely concentrated in high-profile, large-scale public infrastructure, such as airports, premium residential complexes, and expansive commercial developments. This is primarily due to the unfavorable economics of IBS in most other settings,' said Kunal Bajaj, CEO & co-founder of the need for improved indoor coverage is urgent and would significantly enhance macro network efficiency and user experience, low average revenue per user (ARPU) challenge the financial viability of many potential projects, he said. 'As a result, the market remains underpenetrated despite clear demand,' Bajaj Kochhar, however, said that despite ARPUs not being optimal, the telecom industry is still continuously investing in network infrastructure upgrades. 'In fact, TSPs have taken the initiative of having innovative partnership models with enterprises and infrastructure providers, which increasingly take care of the investment-related issues to the best possible extent,' he Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), too, has been undertaking efforts along with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the industry to improve in-building its recommendations on "Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity", the sector regulator suggested a property manager should be permitted to set-up, operate, maintain, and expand IBS within a single building, compound, or estate without requiring authorisation from the central government.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
In-depth: Long way to go for seamless in-building connectivity in India?
NEW DELHI: The ongoing initiatives to provide 4G and fifth-generation (5G) connectivity inside buildings and establishments are mired with challenges, despite a proactive push from the private telecom carriers and the government, said industry executives. In India, the deployment of in-building solutions (IBS) began around 2016-17 with the launch of 4G, and has accelerated recently with the densification of fifth-generation (5G) networks, which use a combination of spectrum bands with varying propagation and material penetration characteristics. Network testing firm Ookla said the trend towards higher frequency spectrum for 5G, for instance, the 3.5 GHz mid-band, limits the ability of the existing mobile network sites to provide high-speed mobile coverage deep indoors. 'The signals that mid-band 5G networks rely on struggle to penetrate the materials in their path when the user is indoors,' it said. The significance of consistent indoor connectivity can be noted by the fact that mobile users, on average, consume 80% of data indoors, a proportion that is only going to increase with the advent of more 5G-driven applications, according to Sweden's Ericsson . Globally, the in-building wireless market size is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2024 to $35.5 billion by 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets Research. The emergence of smart devices, including IoT devices and wearables, is contributing to the expansion of the in-building wireless market, it said. Indian context, TRAI's initiatives IBS infrastructure comprises small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS), and optical fibre cable (OFC). 'In India, (IBS) deployments are largely concentrated in high-profile, large-scale public infrastructure, such as airports, premium residential complexes, and expansive commercial developments. This is primarily due to the unfavorable economics of IBS in most other settings,' said Kunal Bajaj, CEO & co-founder of CloudExtel . While the need for improved indoor coverage is urgent and would significantly enhance macro network efficiency and user experience, low ARPUs challenge the financial viability of many potential projects, he said. 'As a result, the market remains underpenetrated despite clear demand,' Bajaj added. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), too, has been undertaking efforts along with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the industry to improve in-building connectivity. In its recommendations on 'Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity', the sector regulator suggested that a property manager should be permitted to set-up, operate, maintain, and expand IBS within a single building, compound, or estate without requiring authorisation from the central government under Section 3(1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. It further recommended that the property manager shall allow access to digital connectivity infrastructure (DCI) to all service providers in a 'fair, non-chargeable, transparent and non-discriminatory manner and shall not have any exclusive arrangements or agreements with any infrastructure/service provider'. GD Singh, CEO (mobility), iBUS Network and Infrastructure, said that the high rentals and high access fees are among other reasons why IBS solutions are not widely deployed. 'Many private and even government buildings charge high fees for access, which makes it difficult for telcos to move forward,' he said.- Joseph Martin, chief information officer (IT) at luxury real-estate developer House of Hiranandani, echoed similar views and said that neutral service providers only invest in lucrative commercial properties and locations, and typically demand an anchor operator to commit to using the network. ''However, telecom operators often wait for confirmed corporate accounts within the premises before committing, creating a deadlock,' Martin said, adding that the company equips all its commercial and residential properties with IBS infrastructure from the first day. Additionally, structural and regulatory hurdles, such as fragmented ownership in residential complexes and a lack of awareness of digital infrastructure among property developers, also impede IBS deployments, the executives said. Neutral host to be the way forward? Most legacy IBS infrastructure, such as small cells, is only compatible with 4G and any upgrade to 5G will require parallel network deployments or full replacement of legacy systems. Konark Trivedi, founder & managing director, Frog Cellsat, said that presently, there is an absence of a path for an individual or corporation to build in-building infrastructure and have it integrated with a telco network. 'We believe this gap can be bridged by introducing a neutral-host model, supported by government policy and mobile operators. Under this, a building owner could install compliant IBS infrastructure, and operators could plug in their small cells or eNBs (eNodeBs) on request, delivering reliable indoor coverage without heavy capital expenditure (capex) from telcos.'Trivedi said. Ookla said in a recent report that governments and regulators globally have conventionally focused on headline policy goals to achieve outdoor population coverage targets, which has overlooked the significance of indoor mobile coverage and contributed to poor outcomes throughout in-building environments and a lack of public data on the extent of indoor coverage gaps. 'Some countries, like Ireland and Germany, have made progress by mandating minimum coverage levels at buildings and infrastructure of national importance as part of spectrum licence conditions,' it said, suggesting that neutral host is also emerging as a key model to improve in-building connectivity. A seamless in-building connectivity would require extensive efforts from the government and real-estate developers to provide affordable access to telcos and vendors, which will in turn, support in-building connectivity. In the meantime, IBS vendors said they see immediate business opportunities in brownfield projects, particularly legacy structures with patchy or outdated connectivity, despite the exercise being more complex and cost-intensive.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Heat wave: Delhi-NCR travellers choke hill stations. Beware of weekend rush!
With temperatures in Delhi soaring past 40°C over the weekend, the usual hill station escape turned into a nightmare for many. As city dwellers rushed to the cooler climes of Mussoorie, Rishikesh and other hill towns, massive traffic snarls brought travel to a standstill — quite literally. Tragically, the gridlock in Mussoorie claimed a life. A 62-year-old Delhi resident, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, couldn't get timely medical help and passed away. 'It was nothing short of a nightmare,' says Gurugram-based IT professional Kunal Bajaj, who got stuck on a two-kilometre stretch for nearly four hours with his elderly parents. 'Watching them suffer in the heat, helpless inside the car… I deeply regret suggesting this trip.' While jammed hill roads aren't new during school holidays, this time, the crowd was unusually intense. Tour operator Sarvjeet Sankrit explains, 'Many people had postponed their trips earlier this year due to the tense situation at the LOC. That entire wave is now hitting the hill stations all at once.' Geetika Prakash, a homemaker from Amar Colony, who was travelling to Rishikesh, echoes the frustration: 'We spent more time crawling in traffic than actually relaxing. It felt like we walked into a trap.' Hotel bookings have also skyrocketed. 'We've been fully booked every weekend,' shares Praveen Dhami, reservations manager at a Mussoorie hotel, adding, 'A large chunk of our guests are from Delhi-NCR, but we're also seeing a lot of tourists from southern India. The demand is overwhelming.' A post shared by Manali Vasi (@manali_vasi)
