Govt Sets The Ball Rolling For 5G In India: Allots Spectrum To Three Telcos For Conducting Trials And Developing Use Cases

Taking India closer to a full-scale 5G roll-out, the Government has allocated 5G trial spectrum in multiple bands to Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi), reports The Economic Times.

The spectrum allocated to the aforementioned companies under 700 Mhz, 3.5 Ghz and 26 Ghz bands will be used by them to conduct trials with their non-Chinese network providers like Ericsson and Nokia et cetera and to develop India-centric use cases.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing has allocated a total of 100, 800 and 10 units of experimental 5G airwaves in the 3.5 Ghz, 26 Ghz and 700 Mhz spectrum bands respectively for a total span of six months.

It should be noted that this is the first time that the DoT has officially allocated the coveted 26 Ghz millimetre wave band. This gains significance as the telecom companies have underscored the criticality of the said band for strengthening the 5G business case.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the DoT had said earlier that the telecom companies will also be allowed to use their airwaves in the 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz and 2500 Mhz bands to conduct 5G trials.