The spectrum allocation process has delayed the rollout of 5G in India.
According to information from the Indian government cited by the local press, 5G services are anticipated to be deployed in some of the major Indian cities before 2022.
Gurugram, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhinagar are among the cities expected to receive 5G technology in 2022.
In these cities, 5G trial sites have already been set up by local carriers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) stated that these metro areas and major cities would be the first to offer 5G services in the nation in 2019.
According to a recent press article, the Indian government anticipates local operators to introduce 5G service in some regions of the nation by the middle of August 2022.
A source with knowledge of the situation reportedly stated that a limited 5G launch is feasible by that time if the nation’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) makes clear the spectrum that is accessible.
The Indian telecom sector wants assurances that the reserve price for the 5G spectrum will be lowered, the research added. “If these problems are resolved as soon as possible, telecom operators can order equipment and make all the necessary preparations for rollout, so that when auctions are held in April or May, telcos are ready to begin services in a short period of time,” a source in the industry said.
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The government has lately been urged by the telecom industry’s trade group COAI to more than half the reserve price of spectrum for the planned auction, which is intended specifically for 5G services.
According to the country’s communications minister, Ashwini Vaishnav, frequency awards for the delivery of 5G services are anticipated from the Indian government in April or May 2022.
India intends to award bands including the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, and 3,300-3,600 MHz bands, according to earlier reports. Operators will also be able to place a bid for millimeter-wave band spectrum during the spectrum auction.
The winning bids for 855.6 megahertz of spectrum in the most recent auction, which took place this past March, totaled more than INR778 billion ($10.5 billion).
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Due to the high reserve price for this frequency band, no offers were made for spectrum in the 700 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands, despite bids being received for the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.3 GHz bands.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently granted a six-month extension to Indian providers Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea to perform 5G trials. The carriers will be permitted to conduct 5G trials through May 2019 thanks to this extension. Telcos were initially permitted to test 5G technology up until November 26.
The DoT granted a 5G trial spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands for six months in May, opening the door for regional carriers to collaborate and create 5G use cases.
Jio is now evaluating 5G RAN and Core technologies that it created on its own, while Airtel and Vodafone Idea have collaborated with Nokia and Ericsson to roll out trial networks across several locations.