5G rollout could be a gamechanger for DOOH in India

India took a big leap in mobile telephony as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G services in the country on October 1 at the Indian Mobile Congress. With this, India joins a select band of countries like the US, UK, S Korea, Japan, China, and several parts of Europe that have 5G mobile telephony services in place. The 5G rollout in India is expected to have a huge positive cascading impact on economic activities.

Today, as Indian OOH steps up digitalisation of its media assets, 5G services could have a significant beneficial impact. DOOH networks that have been constrained by slow speed data transfer will now be able to enjoy faster and reliable Internet connectivity, and rapid data transfer. Also, it would be easier for DOOH networks to connect with a greater number of devices at the same time.

With 5G, the mobile becomes a mini data server in the hands of advertisers and media operators, and makes audience targeting all more sophisticated and accurate. A media expert Rudolfo Queiroz had stated in a column published in OOH Today back in 2020  that with the deployment of 5G, brands will be able to have conversations with their target audience instead of making everything one way. This will also set the ground for more efficient contextual advertising, that ties into programmatic DOOH. Rudolfo wrote that “digital billboards’ biggest advantage has been their fluidity. They can change information quickly compared to traditional billboards.”

The high speed network that assures minimum data transfer speed of 100Mbps also creates avenues for wider application of AR, web AR, VR in the OOH space.

Also, with easy connectivity across multiple devices, significantly scaled-up DOOH campaigns across geographies will be a reality.

“When you can tap into 5G, you can deliver better graphics, better reaction time, better everything, and this will improve every campaign. We’re a long way from the early days of DOOH, when graphics often glitched or looked blurry,” wrote Rudolfo.

The moot point is, how soon Indian DOOH operators will gear up to leverage the new growth opportunities that 5G rollout offers.