New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the 5G Services in India at Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. PM Modi inaugurated the 6th India Mobile Congress. The IMC 2022 is scheduled to be held from October 1 to 4 with the theme of “New digital Universe”.


Speaking at the launch of 5G services in Delhi, PM Modi called it a historic day for 21st century of India and he also said that 5G technology will revolutionize the telecom sector.


"Historic day for 21st century of India. 5G technology will revolutionize the telecom sector. The launch of 5G is a gift from the telecom industry to 130 crore Indians. It is a step towards the new era in the country, is the beginning of infinite opportunities", ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.


PM Modi also said that the new India will not remain a mere consumer of technology but will also play an active role in the development and implementation of that technology.


"New India will not remain a mere consumer of technology but will play an active role in the development and implementation of that technology. We will lead the technological advancements in the world," ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.


"Digital India's success is based on 4 pillars incl cost of device, digital connectivity, data costs and digital first approach. We worked on all of them," he further said.


"From exporting zero mobile phones in 2014, to now, when we export phones worth thousands of crores... these efforts have had an impact on the cost of the device. Now we have started getting more features at a lower cost," ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.


PM Modi also said that technology has become democratic in its truest sense. "I've seen even the poor of the country always come forward to adopt new technologies... Technology has become democratic in its truest sense," PM Modi said during the event.


Talking about the price of Internet data, PM Modi said that because of the efforts of the Government the cost of 1GB data which was about Rs 300, it has come down to about Rs 10 per GB now.


"Earlier, cost of 1GB data was about Rs 300, it has come down to about Rs 10 per GB now. On average, a person in India consumes 14GB per month. This would have cost about Rs 4200 per month but costs Rs 125-150. It's the efforts of govt that led to this," ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.


PM Modi inspected the exhibition at Pragati Maidan. The 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system. The three major telecom operators of the country demonstrated one use case each in front of the Prime Minister to show the potential of 5G technology in India.


The 5G spectrum auction organised earlier this year by the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) saw Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Adani Data Services, and Vodafone Idea bid for 5G spectrum worth Rs 1,50,173 crore. Reliance Jio was the biggest bidder accounting for 58.65 per cent of the total value. Bharti Airtel is the second biggest bidder amongst the four participants with bids worth Rs 43,084 crore.


Vodafone Idea Limited has made bids worth Rs 18,799 crore to acquire 6,228 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz. The first-ever auction of the 5G spectrum in India began on July 26. The bidding for the auction had ended after a total of 40 rounds of bidding that were held in seven days. A total of 40 rounds of bidding were conducted.


(With ANI Inputs)