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I guess I’m old enough to say “Humare zamane mein….” (During our times) we used to recharge our numbers with 98 Rs for 2GB of 2G data. WhatsApp was just launched and Instagram wasn’t there. We used to spend most of the data on Orkut and Facebook. Fast forward to today, 5g is finally launched in India.
1st October 2022, the stage was set 5G launch in India. At the India Mobile Congress, the prime minister in the presence of Telco heads from Jio, Airtel & Idea launched 5G services in India. It’s a great leap for a developing nation like ours. With the 5G launch in India, we are setting the stage for technologies like VR, and Web3, to name a few to flourish.
However, there’s one question that has been asked me multiple from multiple people. Especially people who aren’t tech-savy. And that question is “Do I need a new phone with 5g launch in India?”, “Will my old phone not work at all?” Well, in this post I’ll clear some of these queries. But before that, let’s understand 5G.
Evolution of Cellular Technology And The Launch Of 5G
Whether you talk about a service or a product, they improve over time. Similar is the case with technology. Every few months, the same technology evolves and takes a new shape. Talk about websites ,for instance, it all started with simple static websites during the Web1.0 age and today we are talking about Web3.0 and Semantic Web where both users & computers are able to create content and contribute.
It’s the same thing with cellular technology standards. It all started with the 0th gen and today India has launched 5G services. The 1st generation was limited to only voice. It’s only in the 2nd generation we had data and multimedia. However from 3rd generation onwards, the speeds improved, latency decreased (reduced delays when connection with services) and so on.
5G has been already prevalent in a lot of countries and it was only time that it would be launched in India soon. Though the 5g launch in India happened today, the services will be rolled out in a phased manner. Both Airtel and Jio are frontrunners to launch 5G services and I have both the sims and a 5G enabled Samsung S20 FE 5G smartphone, will surely share my experience as and when 5G launches in Hyderabad.
Having understood what 5G is, let us look into the requirements for a phone to handle 5G.
How does 5G Work?
Since 5G is a telecommunication standard, it obviously needs a pair of antennas to send and receive signals. In fact, every generation requires an antenna & most modern smartphones have them embedded in them. You need to have more powerful transceivers that are capable of handling high-speed data. Also, they should be able to work in the 5G spectrum bands.
In simple terms, spectrum is nothing but a range of radio frequency. To use it efficiently, mobile companies use techniques to split this spectrum into bands and smaller bits. If you’re an engineer, you would have studied Pulse Width Modulation (yes those green waves on a black screen), that’s one of the ways they use the spectrum.
So every 5G enabled phone must have the capability to communicate with the 5G bands. While researching for a new 5G smartphone in India, I’m sure you would have come across 5G-supported bands. Some companies enable their phones to work with different bands, some restrict only to a couple of bands. Here’s a complete list of 5G bands.
Now that you know what 5G is, and how it works, let me come back to the questions that were being asked me. The reason I’m writing this post is that with the 5G launch in India, many people, especially from regions where smartphones have not penetrated or people who aren’t tech-savvy would have these questions.
5G Launch in India Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a new phone to experience 5G in India?
If you don’t have a 5G enabled smartphone, you will need a new phone that is 5G enabled to experience 5G in India.
Will my old smartphone still work?
Absolutely Yes! It’s just that it will not work with 5G. You’ll still be able to watch videos and make video calls as you did with 4G, 3G network.
With the 5G launch, will 4G & 3G stop working?
No. Even though 5G is launched in India, the spectrum for 4G and 3G will still be used. So I don’t see them dying in at least the next 5-8 years.
Do I need a new SIM to use 5G?
Most service providers like Airtel and Jio have told that users will not need a new SIM to use 5G services when they are launched.
What benefits I’ll get by using 5G?
Everything will become faster. From viewing webpages to watching videos and making video calls. The speeds will be increased and the lags will be reduced considerably. Also, if you’re into online gaming, you’ll benefit from less latency!
When will 5G launch in Hyderabad?
Being a Hyderabadi myself, I’m sure a lot of people want to know when will 5G launch in Hyderabad. As per the news (& rumors), 5G in Hyderabad should be launched and enabled by the end of this year.
What Are You Looking Forward To Doing With 5G?
That’s a quick and brief post about 5G launch in India. I’m sure a lot of people like you and me have been eagerly waiting for the launch to happen. We all want to experience high-speed internet and no buffer videos. Moreover, with most of us working from home, we face choppy networks during calls, this should be improved with the launch of 5G.
So, what are you looking forward to doing with 5G? Do you have any questions you feel I can answer? Let me know in the comments below, tweet me @Atulmaharaj, DM on Instagram or Get In Touch.
