The race to introduce fifth-generation (5G) telecoms services is heating up in India, as Asia's third-largest economy auctions its airwaves to offer the latest technology to its more than 1.3 billion inhabitants.
Fifth-generation technology, which can be 10 times faster than 4G, is expected to boost India's digital sector.
Bidding for 5G is heating up between Indian telecom operators with deep pockets.
There is a lot at stake, and the size of investment needed to develop more infrastructure for the service to take-off is huge.
“As the country’s top telcos participate in the ongoing 5G spectrum auctions, we’re now one step closer to finally having access to the fifth generation network,” said Peeyush Vaish, a partner and telecoms sector leader at Deloitte India. “It is set to transform the Indian telecommunication industry.”
The auction started on July 26. The process has attracted 149.85 billion Indian rupees ($18.9bn) of bids so far, the government said on Saturday.
Reliance Industries' Jio, the telecom company of the conglomerate controlled by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is leading the way.
Competitors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are bidding, too, while billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani Enterprises has also thrown its hat in the ring.
The introduction of 5G is part of the push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to accelerate growth in India's digital sector. New Delhi, under its Digital India campaign banner, expects the value of the sector to reach $1 trillion by 2025.
Although the auction will also bring in much-needed revenue for the government as it tries to narrow its fiscal deficit, the allocation of 5G airwaves will help overall economic growth.
“The 5G auction shows the industry now wants to expand … into a new growth phase,” Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, said at a press conference on Saturday.
Simultaneous growth of 5G and the country's economy is “the thought process that is driving the auction”, he said.
Over the years, India's telecom sector has had its share of controversies, including an alleged 2G scam case in 2007, and, more recently, a Supreme Court battle over telecom companies' dues to the government.
“We are at a stage where the industry has come out of a very painful legacy period,” said Mr Vaishnaw. “The industry has more or less come out of that and it is at the stage where it becomes a sunrise industry.”
India's telecom sector has, in recent years, experienced a lot of volatility and disruption, especially after Jio launched its services in 2016.
The company's cut-price deals intensified competition in the sector to the extent that it pushed a few rivals out of business and accelerated the pace of consolidation in the industry.
The broader digital sector has grown rapidly and has been a magnet for foreign investors, with Reliance's digital division Jio Platforms attracting investment from Google and Facebook.
The latest digital sector battlefield is 5G, and Jio has been the most aggressive in the bidding process, paying the highest “pre-auction deposit”.
However, what attracted a lot of interest is the surprise entry of Adani Data Networks, which has indicated its interest in buying airwaves for a private network.
Mr Adani, the country's second richest man, is now directly competing with Mr Ambani for the same asset.
There is “tremendous interest” from these companies in the 5G auction because of the role this will play across all business sectors, from agriculture to energy, said Tanvi Kanchan, head of corporate strategy at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.
With super fast data speed, 5G is among the building blocks of Internet of Things and virtual reality, and can, supporters say, lead to dramatic improvements in live streaming and gaming capabilities in India.
Mr Vaishnaw said the government wants to expedite the auction, allocation and introduction of 5G, with a target of launching the service in October and then expanding it “very rapidly”.
“Within the coming one-and-a-half, [or] two years, we should see a significant presence of 5G in the country,” he said.
Analysts, however, said that a large-scale introduction of 5G could end up taking double the time as India is already behind the curve compared with many other countries.
Even in places such as the US, the transition to 5G is proving slow.
“5G will be an expensive roll-out,” said Utkarsh Sinha, managing director of Bexley Advisors, a boutique investment bank based in Mumbai.
“On top of the high bids placed by leading contenders, the equipment and installation costs are also exponentially high.”
Fifth generation is also a shorter range technology than 4G. That is offset somewhat by the high device density that 5G supports, but on the whole, “we can expect significant costs and time in achieving full-fledged network deployment”, Mr Sinha said.
The huge amount of investment needed in the spectrum, network and the development of infrastructure to support 5G in India is likely to increase the overall debt levels in the sector.
“For 5G to be successful in a country like India it would need a far higher fibre network reach than its predecessor [4G], ubiquitous coverage, and a high degree of co-operation between operators and content delivery networks to deliver content smoothly as [network] edge data centres would become common after advent of 5G,” Mr Vaish said.
The scope of 5G in terms of boosting India's digital ambitions is enormous, which in turn will make the segment more competitive.
There are “immense revenue opportunities and with private networks in the sector, existing competition will intensify among the telcos for the 5G space”, Mr Vaish said.
“With 5G, the telecom operators will move beyond offering connectivity and content by shifting from the role of a service provider to that of a service enabler.”
Fifth generation will also usher in the age of Web 3.0, where everyone — from students to business people and scientists will start experiencing the internet through immersive metaverse technologies, said Shrey Mishra, co-founder of XR Central, a start-up which uses technologies including augmented and virtual reality to solve business problems.
As India has been behind the curve on 5G, “we do need to seize the initiative in 5G technologies and make sure we’re in front of other countries on this”, he said.
“As an emerging leader in the field of metaverse technology and extended reality, India has a huge opportunity to secure their piece of the pie on a global stage.”
Fifth generation will also be pivotal in manufacturing and “smart” factories. Sandeep Lodha, co-founder of Indian server manufacturing company Netweb Technologies, said his company is working on a private 5G cloud for customers.
Companies across industries will see new avenues and create business opportunities, with the merging of the physical and digital world, said Farheen Ahmad, founder and chief executive of Interality, a virtual platforms start-up based in the IT hub city of Bengaluru.
Ms Ahmad is among the many individuals and businesses awaiting the arrival of 5G to write the next chapter of India's digital growth story.
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
More on Quran memorisation:
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
Notable Yas events in 2017/18
October 13-14 KartZone (complimentary trials)
December 14-16 The Gulf 12 Hours Endurance race
March 5 Yas Marina Circuit Karting Enduro event
March 8-9 UAE Rotax Max Challenge
The biog
Name: Salem Alkarbi
Age: 32
Favourite Al Wasl player: Alexandre Oliveira
First started supporting Al Wasl: 7
Biggest rival: Al Nasr
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%20and%203.6-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20235hp%20and%20310hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E258Nm%20and%20271Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh185%2C100%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How Beautiful this world is!
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (rated 100 ) US$175,000 1,200m
Winner: Baccarat, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (78-94) $60,000 1,800m
Winner: Baroot, Christophe Soumillon, Mike de Kock
7.40pm: Firebreak Stakes Group 3 $200,000 1,600m
Winner: Heavy Metal, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.15pm: Handicap (95-108) $125,000 1,200m
Winner: Yalta, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm: Balanchine Group 2 $200,000 1,800m
Winner: Promising Run, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm: Handicap (95-105) $125,000 1,800m
Winner: Blair House, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
10pm: Handicap (95-105) $125,000 1,400m
Winner: Oh This Is Us, Tom Marquand, Richard Hannon
Result:
1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds
2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds
4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds
6. Annika Sande (NOR) atop For Cash 2 - 31.42 seconds (4 penalties)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquillity Base Hotel Casino (Domino)
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
RESULTS
5pm: Sweihan – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Shamakh, Fernando Jara (jockey), Jean-Claude Picout (trainer)
5.30pm: Al Shamkha – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Daad, Dane O’Neill, Jaber Bittar
6pm: Shakbout City – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Ghayyar, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Gold Silver, Sandro Paiva, Ibrahim Aseel
7pm: Masdar City – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Khalifa City – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Ranchero, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Killing of Qassem Suleimani
WIDE%20VIEW
%3Cp%3EThe%20benefits%20of%20HoloLens%202%2C%20according%20to%20Microsoft%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EManufacturing%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Reduces%20downtime%20and%20speeds%20up%20onboarding%20and%20upskilling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngineering%20and%20construction%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Accelerates%20the%20pace%20of%20construction%20and%20mitigates%20risks%20earlier%20in%20the%20construction%20cycle%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EHealth%20care%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Enhances%20the%20delivery%20of%20patient%20treatment%20at%20the%20point%20of%20care%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEducation%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Improves%20student%20outcomes%20and%20teaches%20from%20anywhere%20with%20experiential%20learning%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
