5G Illustration: VCG

India's government will push Apple, Samsung and other mobile phone manufacturers to prioritize rolling out software upgrades to support 5G in the country, Reuters reported on Tuesday. While there are concerns that many of their models are not ready for 5G service yet, more than three dozen models of China's Xiaomi and Vivo are ready for the recently launched high-speed service, the report said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1 kicked off the commercial rollout of 5G services in India at the India Mobile Congress 2022, marking that the country has officially entered the stage of 5G commercial use. Indian government's push on mobile phone makers to move to support 5G shows their eagerness to realize the potential of 5G.

In fact, the launch of 5G commercial use in India has been delayed compared with an original schedule. It took five years from the start of preparations to the official launch of 5G commercial use in India. It is obvious that the country has to pay higher time and economic costs as it chose to exclude leading Chinese 5G giants such as Huawei and ZTE.

The Indian government originally planned to launch the 5G spectrum auction in 2020, but due to factors such as the pandemic, the process was not finished until this August. According to Indian media outlets, in July, India has further tightened the rules for telecom licenses, mandating operators to only purchase devices from "trusted sources" for not just network upgrades but also expansion, which is seen as a step to "completely stop Chinese vendors" such as Huawei and ZTE from providing telecom gear to India telcos.

Although India's 5G development has reached an important milestone this October, it will take more time before 5G becomes more broadly accessible to retail consumers. Perhaps while imagining the new development opportunities 5G brings to its economic and social progress, India should reflect on its 5G development history and revise some policy obstacles that will hinder its further development of 5G.

As India is standing at a new starting point, if it wants to accelerate the development of its 5G sector, it should rethink how to redefine its cooperation with China, which has much to offer given its successful experiences in 5G development.

Admittedly, India is still relatively backward in communication equipment manufacturing and 5G infrastructure construction. Compared with Indian companies, Chinese 5G giants Huawei and ZTE, which are barred out of India's 5G network, hold considerable advantages in terms of technology and cost and have always maintained a very good network security record.

India has stepped up its crackdown targeting Chinese firms over the years. Indian tax authorities have been probing virtually every major Chinese smartphone company over alleged tax evasion, according to media reports. As India will usher in a critical stage of accelerated 5G development, the country should ensure equal and fair treatment to Chinese companies, instead of continuing the wrong path of suppressing and discriminating against Chinese companies.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn