This news comes days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced at this year's Union Budget session that the required spectrum auctions would be conducted in the coming months to facilitate the rollout of 5G services in 2022, by telecom operators.
She also announced that the government is planning to launch a scheme for design-led manufacturing that will help to build a stronger ecosystem for 5G as part of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
The roll out of 5G is expected to take place by the end of this year as the spectrum auction process will happen by August and services will then be rolled out subsequently, the country's technology minister told media. The cited source says that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is already in talks with telecommunication industry for the rollout of 5G, and that one can expect a report on the same by March.
"By the end of March, we would be ready with everything that is required for the auction process. We expect the auction process to be completed by somewhere near July-August," the technology minister said.
Some major Indian cities are expected to get 5G network by the end of 2022, something which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) confirmed in 2021. In India, only 13 metro cities will first get to experience 5G services this year. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Jamnagar, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow and Gandhinagar.
Since the 5G trials were initially conducted at these places, people who are based in these places will first get 5G. So, if you live in one of the above-mentioned cities, then you can rejoice. 5G is expected to offer greater internet speeds, lower latency and greater capacity for data networks.
While details of 5G prices are still scarce, a Counterpoint Research analyst told India Today that the prices of the latest network might not be lower than 4G, considering the recent tariff hikes and operators aiming for an ARPU of Rs 300 per month. "They are expected to be similar to 4G prices to attract more subscribers and encourage upgrades. However, operators will eventually add a premium once the network has wide coverage and established data speeds," Charu Paliwal said.
(With inputs from agencies)