In India, the rollout of the 5G network is likely to get delayed. It was earlier suggested by the Government that in the first quarter of 2022, the spectrum auction of 5G would take place.
But this might get delayed further as telecom providers have appealed for additional time from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the spectrum auctions till May 2022.
A telco source told ET that earlier this week, DoT has given a period of six months for 5G trials.
The publication, while quoting a source, said that for the availability of spectrum and its quantum, a lot of work still has to be done.
The source was quoted saying that the ISRO and the defence need to vacate a lot of spectrum.
Currently, the spectrum in the 3300-3400 MHz band is held by India’s Ministry of Defence and the spectrum in the 3400-3425 MHz band is held by ISRO.
The telcos have found that for the average size of spectrum for 5G to be deployed at the current price is expensive, the report stated.
This deployment would require about 100Mhz of 5G spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band.
The stakeholders are reportedly consulted by TRAI and will be sent to the telecom department, and further, the Digital Communications Commission will vet them.
The DoT in the country for six months had given the telcos a go-ahead to carry out the 5G trials, earlier this year in May.
A time period of two months for procurement and setting up of the equipment was included in the duration of the trials.
It was made sure that the trials in addition to urban settings are conducted in rural and semi-urban settings too so that 5G technology is not confined to urban areas by the department.
In terms of data download rates, the 5G is expected to give an improved user experience which is expected to be about ten times more than 4G.
It is also expected to give up to three times more spectrum efficiency and to enable Industry 4.0, an ultra-low latency.
The 5G network is expected to bring a vast change in different sectors such as education, transport, traffic management, health, smart cities and many more.