[KL01toKA03]

Ericsson has released its latest mobility report, and it predicts that around 11 percent of India's mobile subscriptions will be on 5G networks by 2025. That number is significantly lower than the predictions for North America, Europe, or South East Asia.

Here is a link to the news:
https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/...w/72225998.cms

The telecom operators blame the high spectrum prices (and they may be correct), and say that 5G won't be profitable unless uses cases become more prevalent. In my opinion, such thinking will result in lost opportunities and India will end up lagging behind in adoption of connected vehicles and connected devices in general. That would be a blow to safety in general, since connected vehicles (not just self driving cars) have the potential to make the roads a lot safer and convenient.

How does this affect connected cars?

IoT devices, including cars, will inevitably have a lot of sensors. Very high data speeds will be required in applications like connected cars where devices will have to use the data and make decisions in a very short period of time.
Here is an article which sums up the possibilities of connected cars, and the importance of 5G connections: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45048264

If 5G spectrums go unsold, what will the future hold for connected cars in India? Will manufacturers manufacture smart cars and hope that the mobile operators provide the infrastructure to support it? Or will they wait for 5G adoption to improve before offering connected cars to the Indian market?

[Reinhard]

Do we know if the current 4g network capabilities are not sufficient for connected car features that are practical for India?

5G speeds would be required for a dense mesh of connected cars that directly interact independently with each other for purposes of collision avoidance, automatic driving, lane monitoring etc. I think we are decades away from such technology being necessary or practical on our roads.

For pretty much everything else - current 4G networks are sufficient as long as there is good signal strength and signal availability.

I never take BBC articles on face values now a days. A lot of it is just imagination, speculation & dream weaving.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

5G speeds would be required for a dense mesh of connected cars that directly interact independently with each other for purposes of collision avoidance, automatic driving, lane monitoring etc. I think we are decades away from such technology being necessary or practical on our roads.

The real benefits of connected cars would be for the purposes which you mentioned, and 5G will be essential to get there.

We may be decades away from a self-driving car, but we are not that far away from a time when:

• Cars could communicate with other cars, thereby coordinating their behavior
• Cars being able to detect and react to non-connected vehicles and obstacles on the road.

[jailbird_fynix]

And here I am, trying to get 3G to work properly on my cellphone.

I think 'connected cars' can wait.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Do we know if the current 4g network capabilities are not sufficient for connected car features that are practical for India?

One of the main advantages of 5G vs 4G is supposed to be very low latency. Low latency would essential for any autonomous/connected car features.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

If 5G spectrums go unsold, what will the future hold for connected cars in India?

5G abroad is set to revolutionize the automotive world, but only because a whole host of basic capabilities are already in place:
Level 1 capability in the developed world - Zoning is practised so that population levels and hence traffic density is contained; parking is also part of zoning plans, so that haphazard parking does not hamper road widths
Level 2 capability in the developed world - Other civic authorities do their bit to ensure that animals do not wander on public roads, people do not dump stuff or encroach upon roads, sidewalks etc. And roving police squads enforce the law with an overtly harsh iron hand.

These 2 basic levels of capabilities set the base for a level 3, which is where 5G kicks in and allows the following-
* V2V (vehicle to vehicle) & V2I (vehicle to infrastructure) communication - It'll work because Levels 1 & 2 above will have already ensured that the only causes for accidents will be driver error. Cars will signal to following cars that brakes will be pressed imminently. Traffic lights will signal to cars that they're going to turn amber in so many milli seconds.
* Advanced autonomous cars - Thanks to distributed computing ("edge computing") whereby, in addition to on-board computers, autonomous cars can relay info to remote computers in real time (thanks to 5G's low latency and high bandwidths) and get live intel on how to handle road situations.

What about India?
What about India, I ask you in return. We don't even have Levels 1 and 2 in place...should we even be talking about Level 3 with 5G aided safety? Will it even make sense? I don't think so. In India, as long as a whole host of extraneous things remain grossly wrong, driver errors will only remain a small part of the safety equation. I don't see how 5G can begin to make a difference here, leave alone the question of autonomous cars here.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by locusjag

What about India?
What about India, I ask you in return. We don't even have Levels 1 and 2 in place...should we even be talking about Level 3 with 5G aided safety? Will it even make sense? I don't think so. In India, as long as a whole host of extraneous things remain grossly wrong, driver errors will only remain a small part of the safety equation. I don't see how 5G can begin to make a difference here, leave alone the question of autonomous cars here.

+1. We were able to see technologies like mobiles etc because the physical infrastructure was not needed much. With cars being physical and having to have roads etc its not going to help much.

There are other applications like medicine where it can have a impact though with low latency and other background features in the network design itself. Just getting 5G for speed is not going to be easy even for the operators without much value add with revenues so low.

[GTO]

I think the current 4G network is more than enough for the kind of "connected cars" we're going to see over the coming 5 - 10 years. Advanced technologies like collision avoidance & cars talking to each other are more than a decade away. I'm willing to bet that we will have 6G networks before those kind of cars gain popularity in India.

[vsrivatsa]

Looks like 5G Services set to enter India in the coming year...

India to get 5G in 2022: All you need to know - Link

5G services will be rolling out in several cities and metros in the country in 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announced on Monday, December 27. In a statement, the DoT said that 5G trial sites have been established in several cities by Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio. DoT had earlier said that 5G technology is expected to deliver ten times better download speed than that of 4G and up to three times greater spectrum efficiency.

It will be rolling out first in Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune and Gandhi Nagar. These are the locations where telecom operators have established 5G trial sites in.

5G to rollout in India in 2022: Things you should know : Link

It remains to be seen how the operators commercialise 5G and at what prices it is offered at, considering 4G prepaid plans prices are already on a rise.