Do you have a 5G phone but don’t know when you can make the most of your phone’s capabilities? Worry no more as India could get 5G services as early as this year. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has confirmed that 5G services will be launched in India in 2022. The DoT also revealed that 5G services will be made available in 13 Indian cities at the start. It will then be rolled out to the remaining cities.
“Costing Rs 224 crore, the project is expected to be completed by December 31, 2021, paving the way for end-to-end testing of 5G user equipment (UE) (/topic/5g) and network equipment by 5G (/ topic /5g) stakeholders developing 5G products/services/use cases (/topic/5g), including indigenous start-ups, SMEs, academia and industry in the country,” said the DoT in an official statement.
The telecom department said the 13 cities that will get 5G services are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai.
When will 5G services be rolled out in India?
The DoT previously said it would complete the 5G project by December 31, 2021. Telecoms Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the government is expected to hold the auction of 5G spectrum, including the airwaves, early June. After the auction, the government could finally start rolling out 5G services to people in the 13 cities in August and September this year.
Which telecom operator will deploy 5G services first?
The DoT did not reveal which telecom operator among Jio, Vodafone and Airtel will roll out 5G services first. However, the three telecom operators are expected to launch their 5G services around the same time. According to reports, Jio, Airtel and even Vodafone have already set up their test sites in the 13 cities that are expected to get 5G services. According to reports, Airtel and Jio have claimed to be the first carriers to roll out 5G services in India.
Airtel’s Bharti Mittal has confirmed that the company’s 5G network is ready and will be rolled out soon after the auction ends. “Yes, you will get faster speeds, but they will be there. The government wants to launch 5G soon, right? As soon as the recommendations come in and the auctions happen, in a few months I would say you will have the first 5G networks coming and Airtel is gearing up for the same,” Mittal had said. ET Telecom in an interview.
Jio, on the other hand, said it has completed 5G coverage planning for more than 1,000 major cities nationwide. The telecom company said it plans to roll out 5G in India in stages.
“5G coverage planning is complete for 1,000 major cities across the country. Jio has been testing advanced use cases in healthcare and industrial automation on its 5G network,” said Jio Platforms.
