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5G Revolution: India to begin trials in May, will roll out by early-2022

India 5G

In a major development, India is all set to begin with its much-awaited 5G trials by May this year. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has received 16 applications by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for 5G trials that make use of both indigenous and imported technologies.

This comes after the Parliamentary Panel on Information Technology had slammed the DoT for the delay in trials, saying that sufficient preparatory work had not been undertaken for 5G rollout in India.

The Panel also questioned the Government as to why it hadn’t allotted the required spectrum for 5G trials, noting that this could delay the overall rollout of 5G in the country, which goes against the Centre’s claims and promises so far.

While the TSP’s had submitted 5G trial applications in January this year, guidelines for trials had not been made clear and there was no set date for commencement of the trials. Some other issues such as inadequate availability of spectrum, high spectrum prices were coming in way of the 5G roll-out in India.

Now, however, the DoT after analysis and evaluation of 5G developments around the world and the social, economic, and security considerations of the 5G ecosystem has decided to go ahead with the 5G trials in India.

“By the end of calendar year 2021 or beginning of 2022, there will be some roll-out in India for some specific uses, because 4G should continue in India for at least another 5-6 years.”, DoT Secretary Anshu Prakash informed the Panel.

5G use case labs are already being set up by the DoT in areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, fintech, and public safety. While 5G services won’t directly affect consumers, it is expected to make a significant difference to enterprises. The Centre’s Smart City project as well as Smart Traffic Signals, Water Meters, etc hinge on 5G rollout in the country.

While mass adoption of 5G could still be years away due to unaffordability of the 5G spectrum, Reliance Jio has announced that it would be launching 5G in India by the second half of 2021. Bharti Airtel too, has begun to expand infrastructure for 5G and has successfully demonstrated live 5G service over its network in Hyderabad.

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