Firms boost 5G budgets on likely demand, better investment returns

About half of Indian enterprises surveyed by KPMG said they have increased budgets, especially for non time-critical communications use cases. The report was released at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022, a four-day telecom event held in New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the rollout of 5G services on Saturday. While Airtel has said that it will start offering 5G services to customers in eight cities, Reliance Jio has said its services will begin from Diwali. The report also found that over 85% of enterprises across sectors are anticipating a return on investment (ROI) of 20% in 5G and other industry 4.0 use cases.

A senior executive at one of India’s top telcos said the most common request that he gets currently are for virtual reality- (VR) based learning solutions. He said hospitals, factories etc., are looking to use 5G connectivity and VR to teach employees how to use specialized products among other tasks.

Firms expect the ROI to rise in the next two to five years with the growing use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR)/ VR, and blockchain, the report said. As much as 52% of enterprises said they expect 5G to increase efficiency in operations and supply chains. “5G will be a catalyst to India’s path of reaching 20% digital GDP by 2025,” said Yezdi Nagporewalla, chief executive, KPMG India.

“5G will not only catalyze new opportunities for the telecom industry but also for enterprises across industries. It has the potential to improve productivity, optimize service quality and reduce costs, leading to overall better consumer experiences,” said Saurabh Kumar Sahu, managing director and lead, Communications, Media and Technology, at Accenture.