5G roll-out would precede its meaningful adoption in India: Credit Suisse

With 5G roll-out likely within months, the Indian telecom sector may further consolidate market share, said global investment bank and financial services firm Credit Suisse in its report. The company said the roll-out would precede a meaningful 5G adoption in India.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, the two leaders in the telecom market, will front-load 5G capex by FY27. The subscriber penetration is expected to reach around 55 per cent, slower than the 4G adoption in India, the investment banking company said.

Also Watch: Is your phone 5G enabled?

According to Credit Suisse, Jio will roll out a SA 5G network while Airtel will adopt NSA 5G rollout on 3.5GHz band initially.

The company said that market repair for Indian telcos may continue as Airtel and Jio gain market share from Vodafone Idea, given their head-start in 5G investments.

Also Read: ‘Business as it should be’: Sunil Mittal praises DoT after 5G spectrum allocation

Credit Suisse said that Airtel stands to benefit from industry repair, organic growth and market share gains from Vodafone Idea with its premium positioning and comfortable leverage.

RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani while speaking at Reliance Industries’ 45th annual general meeting, said, “Reliance Jio has earmarked ₹2 lakh crore investment for 5G network and plans to launch the high-speed services in key cities by Diwali.

Also Read:  Jio 5G to launch in 4 cities by Diwali; pan-India coverage by December 2023

“To build our pan-India true 5G network, we have committed a total investment of ₹2 lakh crore. Jio has prepared the fastest-ever and most ambitious 5G rollout plan for a country of our size. Within the next two months, that is by Diwali, we will launch Jio 5G across multiple key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata,” he added.