India readies 5G
August 22, 2022
By Chris Forrester
India is preparing launch 5G services says Ashwini Vaishnaw, the country’s telecoms minister. Letters have been sent to the telco winners if a recent 5G spectrum auction telling them to prepare for 5G access and usage.
“We understand that the spectrum purchased is good enough to cover all the circles in the country,” Vaishnaw told a press briefing at the start of August. He said that India’s 5G coverage will be “very good” over the next three years.
The major auction winners were:
· Reliance Jio which spent $11 billion to acquire spectrum in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz frequency bands.
· Bharti Airtel won $5.4 billion worth of spectrum
· Vodafone bid for $2.4 billion worth.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said that his company receive a spectrum allocation letter within a few hours of making an upfront payment to the DoT. In a statement released by Airtel India, Mr Mittal said: “In my over 30 years of first-hand experience with DoT, this is a first! Business as it should be. Leadership at work-right at the top and at the helm of telecom.”
Airtel said its 5G service will come on line later this month.