The long-awaited 5G spectrum auctions in India will finally be held later this year, as announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget 2022 session. This development comes after the 5G spectrum auctions were recently delayed and were supposed to take place in April or May 2022. Check out the details here.
5G Mobile Services Rollout in India Soon
The 5G auction in 2022 will allow for the commercial rollout of 5G mobile services, which is expected to be somewhere between this year and 2023 by private telecom service providers such as Jio, Vodafone Idea (Vi), Airtel, among others. Currently, these telcos are conducting 5G trials in India and will have to get a license before deploying 5G networks in India.
Sitharaman further suggests that 5G in India will make way for growth and more job opportunities for people.
It is also revealed that the government will introduce design-led Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the manufacturing of local 5G equipment, thus, promoting the “Make in India” initiative. To recall, the PLI scheme was approved by the government last year, which includes the telecom equipment too.
The Government of India also aims to make broadband and mobile services easily accessible at affordable prices for rural and remote areas. For this, it will allow 5% of total collections under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
“This will promote R&D and commercialization of technologies and solutions. Our mission is that all villages and their residents should have the same access to e-services, communication facilities, and digital resources as urban areas and their residents,” said Sitharaman while talking about fiber and 5G service deployment in India.
In addition, the government will focus on introducing optical fiber in villages and other remote areas, for which a contract will come into play under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in 2022-23. It is expected to be completed by 2025. Now, an exact timeline for the commencement of 5G spectrum auctions remains unknown. But we hope that there isn’t any further delay and we finally get to use 5G in India soon!
