India Goes All Out To Introduce 5G In Early Next Fiscal
India -This September saw major reforms in the telecom sector with a bailout package for telecom players. Now, the Indian telecom department is gearing up for a spectrum sale in the early fiscal year 2022-23, along with an auction of 5G airwaves.
These steps hint at India’s focus more towards bringing technological upgrade across industrial, consumer, healthcare sectors, in line with similar trends across the developed world.
Ashwani Vaishnav, Telecom and IT minister has clear plans to roll out an attractive policy for telecom companies to benefit the recent reforms package and attract new investments after spectrum sale, though delays are expected by few months against the original plan.
He also said that Trai is discussing the upcoming auctions, including 5G airways. He commented, “I think they will submit their report by February-mid, maximum to maximum March” and immediately after that we will have the auctions.
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He also explained since the consultations are complex, diverse opinions are coming, therefore the delay is happening. The final decision is expected in April-May as per current estimates.
As per sources, the government feels that telecom companies have cash in hand due to the bailout package given in March, which will enable them to invest higher in networks and plan liberally for auctions. The government relief package had included removal of non-telecom revenues from the AGR
definition, increasing tenure of spectrum holdings from 20 years to 30 years, no spectrum usage charges for new auctions, 100% FDI through automatic route.
The 5G network is expanding fast globally and is likely to cover one-third of the world’s population by 2025. This is expected to leave a huge impact on the mobile industry and its customers. The 5G technology provides fluid and flexible connectivity to users. The GSMA is engaging with governments, vertical industries including automotive, financial services, healthcare providers, transport operators, utilities and other industry sectors to develop business cases for 5G, with support from the mobile operators pioneering 5G.