The government is moving steadfastly on 5G technology. Once commercialised, it is expected to change the dynamics of not only telecom but other industries as well as it will shift the focus towards artificial intelligence, internet of things, smart connected devices, virtual medical services and machine to machine communications, among others. 5G will also be critical to government's various ambitious projects – smart cities and Digital India. The 5G spectrum allocation policy is expected to come out by the end of this year. A committee set up by the Department of Telecommunications recently came out with a roadmap.

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This time, India might follow global countries closely in 5G adoption, unlike in the past when the country was a laggard while implementing 3G and 4G. But the government needs to move cautiously for reasons. Globally, there is no commercial launch yet, only trials and use cases. Secondly, telecom players in India are financially constrained, which will make spectrum auction a risky affair if it happens in near future. The government has to ensure that an ecosystem is in place before the actual launch.

With a growing Indian middle class living in urban areas, a variety of 5G business models for new services are likely to be successful. The economically weaker sections, living in smaller towns and villages, will need special help to benefit from 5G technologies.