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5G spectrum Auction Begins: These 13 Cities Will Get 5G Services First In India.

The auctions for the deployment of the 5G spectrum has initiated in India for a nationwide 5G roll-out. They are supposed to be concluded over the next few days and hopefully by the month-end. A spectrum with a 20-year time frame with a validity of over 72 GHz is up for auction. The spectrum auction includes spectrum in several frequency bands having both low (600 GHz, 700 GHz, 800 GHz, 900 GHz, 1800 GHz, 2100 GHz, and 2300 GHz) and high (26 GHz).

There have been claims about the speed of 5G by the government that it will be about ten times faster than the 4G we’re currently using. It will bring an enormous change to the telecommunication industry. Now, after speculation by DOT (Department of Telecommunication), the 5G service will be established in India in 2020 as you know, the auctions have already started.

It is also claimed by the department of telecommunications that the 13 cities all over the country will get the chance to establish 5G at first. Then it will slowly expand over the other parts of the country as there are many parts of the country where there are places with no 4G connectivity and last week Jio established 4G connectivity in a town named Pangong Lake in the Ladakh region. The cities that will get the 5G are Delhi, Gurugram, Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Pune, Jamnagar, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad.

5G spectrum
Image source: hindustantimes.com

Currently, there is no information about the telecom operator corporation, which will be the first to commercially and successfully deploy this 5G spectrum services in India. The leading telecom operator firms such as Airtel, Jio, and Vi (Vodafone and Idea) have already initiated setting up their trial sites in mentioned cities.

The Department of Telecommunication has collaborated with eight agencies that are IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IISC Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronica & Engineering, and Center of Excellence in Wireless Technology, for the national 5G test bed project initiated in 2018.

The Department anticipated a price range of 70,000 crores to 1,00,000 crores from the 5G spectrum auctions that would usher in great new age offerings and innovative business models which would enable high-speed connections, and generate high revenue for various enterprises, and provide employment emerging from the allocation of innovative use-cases and technologies. The biddings are expected to last for about two days. The 72 GHz will be worth 4.3 lakh crore INR.

It is also anticipated that Mukesh Ambani’s Jio will be leading the expense, followed by Bharti, and Airtel while there is meager participation seen from Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Adani Group. Reliance Jio has an Earnest Money Deposit of 14,000 crores, while its competitor Adani Group has made a minor deposit of 100 crore INR. There would be less chance of aggressive bidding as there are only four participants in the race. While Reliance Jio may be intensely bidding in the auctions, there is not any major bidding by Adani Group.

The government is searching for various measures to cut off the expense of performing business for Telecommunication Service Provider firms. It announced reforms in the telecom sector in September 2021, which will serve as a huge benefit for this spectrum auction. The reform comprises zero Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) on the spectrum that will be purchased in the coming auctions. The telecom Service providers will be receiving a significant relief from SUC being the cause as it will reduce their operational costs for them. It will be seen as an immense revolution in the telecom industry, providing many opportunities for providers and consumers.

Airtel 5G

Airtel 5G service demonstration goes live in Hyderabad

On Thursday, Airtel gave a live demonstration of its 5G network in Hyderabad. The company claims that it is the first telecom service provider in India to successfully give a live demonstration of its 5G service. According to Airtel, the newly launched 5G network has the capability to operate over the existing network technology of both mid-bands and sub-GHz bands.

Yesterday, the company successfully operated both 5G and 4G concurrently over the existing liberalized spectrum in the 1800MHz band through the Non-Standalone (NSA) network technology. (Gadgets 360) Airtel 5G service will increase the speed of existing technology by 10 times with 10 times latency and 100 times concurrency. This will help in improving the overall user experience from attending online calls to downloading movies and TV shows.

More about Airtel 5G network

Airtel worked jointly with Ericsson, its equipment partner to bring this new experience to its users. The company has claimed that the 5G network has the capability to work over existing network technology hence can operate in mid-bands of range 1800MHz, 2100MHz, and 2300MHz. The 5G service will also operate in the sub-GHz band of frequency 800MHz and 900MHz.The existing Airtel users can use 5G services by software upgrades as said by the operator.

Airtel is now waiting for the permission from Department of Telecom (DoT) to deploy 5G services dynamically. As both the 4G and the 5G services can be operated through the same spectrum block, it will only take months for the company to make it available. Though the live service in Hyderabad was successful yesterday, Airtel didn’t mention any timeline about the commercial rollout of the 5G services. But, the CEO of Bharti Airtel mentioned that the company is waiting for government approvals. As soon as they have the permission and enough quantity of the right spectrum band, they will make the rollout of the Airtel 5G service.

Gopal Vittal, MD, and CEO of Bharti Airtel said that made a comment that India has the potential to become the global center for innovations in 5G technology. He further said that to build a strong 5G ecosystem all the devices, applications, and network innovation should come together.

Demonstration of Airtel 5G service

Airtel carried out the 5G demonstration in Oppo Reno 5 Pro and Oppo Find X2 Pro. The company claims that there are more than 20 different smartphones, 5 models, in India that are ready to use the Airtel 5G services. The existing users of Airtel don’t need to upgrade their sim cards for 5G usage unlike what we used to do earlier for changing sim cards to 3G or 4G network. Since both the 4G and 5G service can be provided from the same spectrum block, things have become a lot simpler and easier in the switching part. The live demonstration of the 5G network is only available in some selected stores in Hyderabad.

Airtel 5G
Image Source: gadgets.ndtv.com

Jio’s attempt to launch 5G in India

Apart from Bharti Airtel, its leading competitor in the Indian telecom market, Reliance Jio has also started testing its 5G services. Recently, the company has announced the advanced 5G testing it is carrying out this year. The company has also mentioned that very soon it will be bringing the 5G service of Reliance Jio in India probably this year itself. Though the operator has promised to test its 5G network at a scale, the company hasn’t announced a date yet for any live demonstrations like Airtel. It is very likely that Jio might roll out the 5G services in the second half of this year. In a recent statement made by Mukesh Ambani, Chairperson of Reliance Industries, he said that the company will make the 5G services available at an affordable rate everywhere in the country.

6 months notice period for 5G rollout

Previously, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has announced that any telecom service provider should give a one-year notice before launching any new technology using the seven frequency bands that will be up for auction. But, yesterday DoT reduced the one-year notice period to 6-months. For the auction of the seven frequency bands, the government has planned to put a rate of Rs 3.92 lakh crore.