The Indian government gave a go-ahead to the Department of Telecom's (DoT) 5G spectrum auction in a cabinet meeting, paving way for the commercial rollout of 5G services in the country in the coming months which is touted to be about 10 times faster than 4G services. A total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put to auction that is slated to be held at the end of July this year. The auction will be held for spectrum in various frequency bands -- 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz.
According to the DoT, 5G services will be initially rolled out to 13 cities in the country. Earlier, the DoT had mentioned that 5G internet services will be available in India in 2022. The cities in India that would get 5G services first include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Jamnagar, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Mumbai and Kolkata.
However, it is not known which telecom service provider will offer 5G services in the country first.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a proposal of the Department of Telecommunications to conduct spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to public and enterprises, said an official statement.
The 5G test bed setup in eight top technology institutes of India is speeding up the launch of domestic 5G technology in the country. The PLI (Production-Linked Incentives) schemes for mobile handsets, telecom equipments and the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission is expected to help build a strong ecosystem for the launch of 5G services in India, the statement added.