Telecom operators may be able to start 5G services from August as per the government’s plan as auction and allocation of spectrum would happen on time but lack of fiberised base tower stations (BTSs) may hamper faster scaling up of the services.  

According to the department of telecommunications (DoT), just around 34% of mobile towers are connected with fiber. There are around 2.3 million BTSs in the country, of which only 790,000 are connected with fiber.  

Fiberisation of mobile networks is essential for providing 5G services as well as to cater to the digital connectivity needs of smart city administration like CCTVs, sensors and other public address systems. Since, the data load on 5G networks will be much higher as compared to 3G and 4G, a fiber backhaul is necessary for seamless connectivity. Although wireless backhaul through spectrum in E-band, etc., can be utilised but it may have capacity issues given the quantum of data. For places with high usage, telecom operators will have to deploy fiber for backhaul to offer seamless 5G services.

The telecom industry has been highlighting the problems around laying of fiber to DoT. There have been issues around getting right of way (RoW) permissions as well as charging of exorbitant rates by various local bodies of cities. Since digging to lay fiber is cumbersome, the idea of deploying overhead fiber cable on street furniture has been discussed. In fact, pilot projects have already been initiated at Delhi airport, Kandla port in Gujarat, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation and Bhopal Smart City where street furniture like traffic signals, light poles, billboards, etc., will be utilised for deployment of telecom infrastructure. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has also come out with a consultation paper on using street furniture for small cell and aerial fiber deployment.

The purpose of the pilots is to ascertain how street furniture can be used to fasten the roll-out of telecom networks, specially 5G. The findings from the pilot will enable formulation of regulatory and policy framework in this regard.

The telecom industry has been demanding use of electricity poles for deploying small cells, which will be a key driver for effective 5G deployments. Small cells can handle high data rates and can be deployed inside the buildings, too. But there are certain challenges in the deployment like access to right of way, procedural simplification, provision of high capacity backhauls and availability of stable power that needs to be addressed. Further, challenges of laying aerial optical fiber, which serves as the backbone for small cell towers, have been highlighted by the industry which has demanded sharing of existing infrastructure like electricity poles, street lights etc.