Assess India's 5G rollout since 2022. What do indigenous technology stacks contribute to strategic autonomy in telecom?

India launched 5G at the 6th India Mobile Congress on 1 October 2022 [1]. By IMC 2026 it reached every district through more than 5.5 lakh base stations [2]. Coverage has spread quickly, but service quality and real use have not kept pace.

Assessment of the 5G rollout

Achievements

• Scale and speed: 5G is present in all districts, and internet speeds are up roughly tenfold [2].
• Inclusion: cheaper data and devices mean technology is no longer an "elite privilege". This strengthens last-mile delivery under Digital India [2].
• Industrial spillover: the telecom boom has been tied to domestic device manufacturing [2].

Gaps

• Uneven quality: TRAI drive tests found drop-call rates as high as 12.19% in Shillong–East Khasi Hills [3], against at most 3.34% in Agra [4]. A "covered" district does not mean every village is served.
• Weak fibre backbone: 2,18,347 gram panchayats are BharatNet "service ready" [5]. Yet only 766 of about one lakh panchayats have active Wi-Fi hotspots, and BharatNet funds have been underused since 2022-23 [6].
• Thin monetisation: IMC 2026 showcases 2,000+ use cases [7], but a demonstration is not a deployment. Enterprise 5G remains early-stage, which limits operators' returns and slows their next round of investment.

Indigenous stacks and strategic autonomy

• Network security: C-DOT's indigenous 5G NSA Core (2022) [8] keeps the network's control layer in Indian hands and reduces dependence on untrusted vendors.
• Technological self-reliance: BSNL's Swadeshi 4G stack combines a C-DOT core, Tejas radio network and TCS integration. It is 5G-upgradable and puts India among a handful of nations with a fully home-grown stack [9].
• Standard-setting voice: India hosted ITU-WTSA 2024, the first in India and the Asia-Pacific [10]. Owning its own technology gives India a stronger voice in shaping future standards instead of just adopting them.
• Innovation pipeline: the Spectrum Regulatory Sandbox [11] lets domestic firms test wireless products under relaxed rules before scaling them.

India's 5G story has succeeded on coverage; the next phase must be about quality and use. Three steps would help: judge BharatNet by active connections, have TRAI publish district-wise quality reports, and run sandbox-led pilots in farms, factories and hospitals. Scaling the indigenous stack alongside these steps would turn reach into value. It would also secure trusted, self-reliant connectivity, in line with SDG 9 on resilient infrastructure.