The much awaited fastest and more responsive internet services of the fifth generation (5G) will set sail across 13 cities including metropolises in India next year, declares the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).

Cities under this category are Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and Jamnagar.

But before that, 5G spectrum auctions will be organized although dates are yet to be finalized. On that regard, DoT seeked the aid of the telecom sector regulator TRAI (Telecommunication Regulatory of India) to determine price, band plan, block size, and the quantum of spectrum to be auctioned.

“The process of assignment of frequencies to TSPs (telecom service providers) would be initiated at the earliest possible”, according to the DoT.

It further went on to say that, “with regard to rollout of 5G services, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) — M/s Bharti Airtel, M/s Reliance Jio and M/s Vodafone Idea — have established 5G trials sites in Gurugram, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, Gandhinagar cities. These metros and big cities would be the first places for the launch of 5G services in the country next year”.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have for long been nudging DoT to announce a clear roadmap for the spectrum allocation as well as 5G frequency. The reason for this is that these telecoms could be able to plan to distribute the network service accordingly.

Currently, the government has given nod to spectrum bands such as 526-698 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz for public as well as private 5G networks.

Private 5G networks will be used for captive applications in the Industry 4.0 concept, which has been billed as a major use-case for 5G networks. While public 5G networks will serve all telecom users, private 5G networks will be used for captive applications in the Industry 4.0 concept, which has been billed as a major use-case for 5G networks.

Given the vastly higher speeds and reduced latency of the next generation of telephony, industries such as manufacturing and logistics will embrace 5G networks to automate their processes as part of Industry 4.0.

The actual deployment would be dependent on industry readiness, however the government has expressed interest in launching on Independence Day.

Telecom service providers have asked the government to maintain 5G spectrum pricing low so that the industry can participate fully. Companies have advised the government that access to appropriate low-cost spectrum and flexible payment terms are critical for them to plan their investments.

As an alternative to the widely used 3GPP standard, the government is promoting the creation of an indigenous produced 5G standard known as the 5Gi. The Indian Institute of Technology produced the indigenous 5G test-bed, which was supported by the government. The project is expected to be completed by the end of December.

Telecom service providers and equipment manufacturers, on the other hand, have been skeptical of a locally produced standard as results have yet to be demonstrated on a commercial scale. According to media sources, as part of the compromise formula, the 5Gi standard will be merged with the global standard.