With this spectrum allotment done, India has entered the final stage of rolling out high-speed 5G telecom services. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his Independence Day speech, India is now focusing on technologies such as 5G, semiconductor manufacturing and optical fibre cables.
All eyes are now on the government as to when the 5G services rollout will be announced. Union Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India is gearing up for the roll out of 5G services by October 12.
"We are planning to roll out 5G services rapidly. The telecom operators are working in that regard and installations are being done. Hopefully, we should be launching 5G services by October 12 and then would further scale up in cities and towns. Our expectations are that 5G should reach every part of the country in the next two to three years," he said.
Minister assuages fears on 5G services cost for users
The 5G rollout is expected to bring more development in remote data monitoring in sectors such as mining, warehousing, telemedicine, and manufacturing, among others. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, VodafoneIdea and Adani Group were the four major participants in the spectrum auction.
Last week, the government has issued spectrum allocation letters to telecom service providers while asking them to prepare for the rollout of 5G services in the country.
While 5G services are eagerly awaited, there's also some worry over what the data cost will be. The Minister assuaged the misgivings on that front too. "We will ensure that it remains affordable. The industry is focusing on both urban as well as rural areas," he said.
5G is the fifth-generation mobile network capable of transmitting a large set of data at a very rapid speed. In comparison to 3G and 4G, 5G has a very low latency which will enhance user experiences in various sectors. Low latency describes the efficiency to process a very high volume of data messages with a minimal delay.
The government has also come up with an amendment in the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2016 to facilitate faster and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure and launched a new 5G RoW application 'form’ on GatiShakti Sanchar Portal to enable faster 5G roll-out in India.
The IT systems of all States and union territories and major infrastructure central ministries such as Railway, Highways have been integrated with the portal to make India ready for 5G launch. A total of 13 States and union territories have also implemented deemed approval clause in their RoW Policies ensuring speedy approvals. These measures have resulted in major reduction in average time for approval of RoW applications, from 435 days in 2019 to 16 days in July 2022.
