Yup.
In tech-speak there is 5G NSA (Non-Standalone Architecture) and 5G SA (Standalone Architecture).
5G NSA is a kludge, it is 5G radios operating on a legacy 4G core. Inherently backwards compatible.
5G SA is 5G radios on 5G core. Clearly not backwards compatible.
5G SA is the preferred route for good reason:
1. It delivers reduced power consumption at both operator and user-device level
2. It delivers improved latency and bandwidth at both operator and user-device levelIf you're building new towers, things change, obviously. That said, a lot of industrial/IoT hardware still requires 4G so it's not entirely unreasonable to deploy 4G in new coverage areas.
MSR base stations are the norm in the industry, not a rarity.
5G RedCap is the solution, but that will need new infrastructure and chipset. LTE will stay at least for another ten years.
Most operators have switched off both 3G and 2G by now.
Closes tab
Perhaps the limitation to whatever express chat is isn’t a dealbreaker in India.