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5G Services will be available in your location soon.
Telecom providers and smartphone manufacturers are gearing up to offer this technology as spectrum auctions begin in March.
Consider the following scenario. You’re on your way to the mountains. It’s a 10-hour bus ride, and you’ve decided to pass the time by watching movies. However, you failed to download them. You may download them right now, however it will take some time with your 4G phone. It would be different if you had 5G, right?
That will be achievable in the coming months. India is finally going to put out 5G technology after years of conjecture. In comparison to 4G LTE’s peak speed of 1GB per second, 5G technology is expected to give a speed of 20GB per second. 4G will soon be a thing of the past.
The 5G spectrum auctions are planned to start in March 2022 and end in August 2022. At the same time, telecom firms like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are undertaking experiments to see if this technology can be used.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is currently in the last phases of its 5G rollout consultations with the telecommunications industry. In the next weeks, a definitive report on the timetables for 2022 will be provided, following which the auction process will commence.
Large cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru are slated to be among the first to receive 5G access in the initial phase.
telcos are in a hurry
While the spectrum will be awarded in due time, telecom firms have begun 5G experiments in locations throughout the world.
Airtel stated in November 2021 that the government’s Department of Telecommunications has assigned them test spectrum in different bands for the validation of 5G technologies and application cases. In collaboration with Nokia, it has performed India’s first 5G testing in the 700 MHz spectrum on the outskirts of Kolkata.
Vodafone Idea quickly followed suit, announcing that as part of its current 5G experiments in Pune and Gandhinagar, it has achieved a speed of 1.5 gigabits per second (GBPS). Ericsson’s 5G technology solutions were used to accomplish this.
Similarly, Reliance Jio is planning to roll out 5G in 1,000 cities throughout the country. According to the company’s chairman, 5G network coverage planning has been completed for the top 1,000 cities in the country thus far. According to statistics from a speed test, Jio subscribers could download a two-hour movie in less than a minute.
The telecom companies have till May 2022 to complete their testing. While Airtel and Vodafone Idea have teamed with Nokia and Ericsson for their trials, Jio is testing 5G using its own proprietary technology.
Phone manufacturers are also in line.
Without a suitable device, a 5G network is worthless. That’s where the handset manufacturers come in. Smartphones are being improved in tandem with the attempt to offer a speedier mobile network.
To accommodate the increased demand, companies including Tecno, Vivo, Huawei, and Xiaomi have released 5G variants.
The Tecno Pova 5G is a new affordable smartphone that was recently released for Rs 19,999. With a starting price of Rs 15,990, Vivo T1 5G is another 5G debut in India. Poco will also release its Poco M4 Pro 5G variant on February 15. OnePlus will release its Norde CE 5G phone the same week.
Larger businesses, like Samsung, are beefing up their portfolio by producing mid-range 5G phones for an upcoming launch in India.
Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, Jio is also developing a 5G smartphone, which might debut later this year. International smartphone makers, such as Hong Kong’s Infinix, have worked with Jio to perform trials and produce 5G phones, using the company’s technical ability.
Apple is also preparing to launch 5G versions in India in the near future. Smartphones and iPads fall within this category.
5G smartphone models are presently available for as little as Rs 13,000 and as much as Rs 38,000.
on the verge of a transformation
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has produced a full consultation paper on 5G auctions, which includes the reserve price, bid methods, and other fees.
veen as the government prepares for major auctions, telecom giants are requesting steep spectrum discounts of up to 90 percent. The corporations have also requested adjustments to guarantee that no upfront payment is required and that a 5- to 6-year embargo is imposed. These inquiries have yet to be answered by TRAI.
While these difficulties will be worked out over the next several months of government-industry discussions, the 5G revolution is just around the corner. Not only will the new technology allow for quicker internet, but it will also assist in the development of smart cities and towns with connected healthcare, improved agriculture operations, and computerised education systems.
Once 5G-enabled technology is embedded in all products and services, the transition to a genuinely digital India would be expedited. And this shift isn’t going away.
Tarun Taunk
Editor-In-Chief