BUSINESS STANDARD
5G roll out 'soon' in India, mass
adoption could still be years
away
With talks of "timely" 5G roll out in India resurfacing again after a
Covid-hit year that delayed spectrum auction, there are hopes
that the fifth-generation cellular technology could be a reality in
the second half of the year, even though various reports suggest
that its mass adoption could still be years away.
The government is not selling traditional 5G spectrum in the
upcoming auction the bidding for which will commence in March,
but a tweak in the notice inviting applications has raised hope
that companies will be able to launch 5G even on existing bands.
The amendment reduced the notice time period required for
telecom companies to give to make advancements and upgrades
in technology from one year to six months.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on January 28 successfully
demonstrated live 5G service on a use case basis over a
commercial network in Hyderabad city over its existing
liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through the NSA
(non-standalone) network technology - that is, fall back on 4G
network. Read More