India’s 5G rollout is about to start, possibly as soon as next month. Service providers have already been urged to prepare for the launch of 5G following the release of spectrum allocation letters by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. On the same day that winning bidders for radio waves made advance payments, the Department of Telecom (DoT) issued letters assigning specific frequencies. The DoT has previously declared that the first phase of high-speed Internet service will be available in 13 Indian cities. Here is a summary of what transpired and what to anticipate in the upcoming days.
Initially, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune will receive 5G services. The telecom service providers (TSPs) Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea have already paid the DoT a total of about Rs. 17,876 crore for the spectrum they won in a recent auction. The service providers have already received the letters outlining the spectrum assignment. This indicates that once the service is ready, the providers may launch it.
The official debut of 5G services will take place on September 29 to coincide with the IMC 2022 opening ceremony. Originally scheduled to go live on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly postponed the launch because TSPs and their vendors needed more time to prepare.
“We are now moving closer to the 5G era; the wait won’t be long. To every village, we are bringing optical fibre. I am fully aware that the villages will play a part in the realisation of the Digital India ambition. I’m glad that India’s 4 lakh CSCs are sprouting up in rural areas. The nation may be proud of the 4 lakh digital entrepreneurs who are preparing in the countryside and the villagers who have developed a habit of using their services, according to Modi.
By March 2024, all major towns and rural areas in the nation would have access to 5G services, according to a recent statement from telecom provider Bharti Airtel. The rollout of 5G over all of India will begin in August, according to our plans. We anticipate being able to provide 5G service in all major urban regions by March 2024, as well as in significant rural areas. In fact, there are entire plans in place for the detailed network rollout in 5,000 Indian towns. During the company’s earnings call, Vittal noted, “This will be one of the largest rollouts in our history.
Vi has also begun alerting its customers that it is working on a 5G upgrade and that the customer experience “will now be superior” in addition to having better coverage in Delhi-NCR. In the 5G spectrum auction, Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, came out on top as the highest bidder, winning airwaves valued at $11 billion (about Rs. 87,800 crore) for its high-speed wireless network.
