Adoption of 5G in developing economies: A supply side perspective from India

The current 3G and 4G telecom technologies present challenges in the form of network congestion, low average revenue per user and limited applications across different industries. This is driving the need for faster adoption and implementation of 5G technologies. Researchers have largely focused on the technical aspects of 5G and its adoption on the demand side, while the focus on the supply side—business implications, enablers and barriers to adoption for the telecom service providers (TSPs)—is limited. A supply side perspective on 5G adoption in developing economies needs more attention as their ecosystem of technology deployment is different from that of developed economies. India being one of the prominent developing countries and the second largest telecom market in the world, with 5G adoption at a nascent stage, is an apt case for studying enablers and barriers. Thus, this exploratory study focuses on identifying the factors for adoption of 5G by TSPs. The study makes theoretical contributions to literature by identifying seven unique factors and eight unique subfactors and proposing a new 5G adoption model for TSPs. Recommendations are provided to aid policy and decision-makers in designing policy interventions and strategies for faster 5G adoption from the supply side of the diverse ecosystem.