Applications submitted by Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL regarding the 5G trials will reportedly get cleared in the coming two weeks with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) swinging into action following the recent report by the parliamentary committee on IT.
To recall, a report from the parliamentary panel on IT came out a week ago that read 5G will not be arriving in India anytime soon, at least not in 2021. The report seems to blame the ‘poor planning and execution’ by the government to introduce 5G in India.
The new report regarding 5G trials clearance comes from Economic Times. “The DoT secretary’s office is directly involved in the discussion along with other officials. They are driving discussions with telcos on approvals for 5G trials. This is certainly a result of the recent parliamentary committee report,” a person familiar with the matter told ET.
‘The DoT, which last year received 16 applications for 5G field trials using imported as well as indigenous technology, recently informed the panel that 5G trials may start in 2-3 months’, ET’s report read. The panel, in its report, had asked why spectrum for 5G trial has still not been allocated even though the DoT has categorically stated that there are no major issues commencing trials in the country.
Jio, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and BSNL had previously named European and US equipment makers such as Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung as preferred partners for 5G trials.
Airtel is the country’s first telco to successfully demonstrate & orchestrate LIVE 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. Airtel 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x Latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies. Specifically, in Hyderabad, users were able to download a full length movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G phone, says Airtel.
Jio is also ready to roll out 5G in the second half of 2021. Ambani had said “India is today among the best digitally connected nations in the world. In order to maintain this lead, policy steps are needed to accelerate early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere. I assure you that JIO will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021. It will be powered by indigenous-developed network, hardware and technology components.”