5G services: Telecom sector to attract Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2023

NEW DELHI: From connecting people with 5G services to lowering the cost of operations, the country’s revitalised telecom sector is witnessing the bloom of reforms, and is set to attract more than Rs 1.5 trillion investments to build up networks in the new year.

Once the poster boy of India’s growth story, then a debt-laden segment that saw many players withering away and now riding the wave of reforms as well as big-ticket investments, the telecom sector turned a new chapter in 2022.

While the Adani group is yet to unveil its full-fledged plan for the telecom business, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has committed Rs 2 trillion investment for rolling out a 5G network across the country by December 2023.

“It has been an exciting year because of the launch of 5G, a much-awaited technology for 4-5 years. This is a big step forward. We look forward to a robust rollout of 5G next year because this year is just the beginning.

“We are all working on use cases. We are telling state governments, ministries, startups and innovators to come out with innovative use cases in the Indian context, which will unlock businesses and will also solve some public problems, some challenges,” Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman said.

He also said the government will continue to take measures that will lower the cost of operations for telecom operators, a move that will result in higher margins for the sector, which had been reeling under a debt burden for more than a decade.

Reliance Jio has committed Rs 87,946.93 crore for the spectrum that it has to pay over a period of 20 years, leaving a balance of Rs 1.12 trillion. While the company had invested a partial amount in building its own 5G core, it will invest the majority of the Rs 1.12 trillion in capex for 5G in 2023, according to sources.

Bharti Airtel is expected to invest in the range of Rs 27,000-28,000 crore and state-owned BSNL around Rs 16,000 crore in 2023 for rolling out an indigenously developed 4G network by TCS and C-DoT-led consortium. Later, the system will be upgraded to 5G.

Together, investments worth more than Rs 1.5 trillion are expected in the telecom sector.