The cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to conduct 5G spectrum auction, in which spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to public and enterprises. The auction will be held by the end of July, and a total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put to auction. “The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a proposal of the Department of Telecommunications to conduct spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to public and enterprises,” said the government in a statement.
The cabinet also decided to set up and develop the private 5G captive networks. It said the private network is going to spur a new wave of innovations in Industry 4.0 applications such as machine-to-machine communications, Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) across automotive, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and other sectors.
“Spectrum is an integral and necessary part of the entire 5G eco-system. The upcoming 5G services have the potential to create new age businesses, generate additional revenue for enterprises and provide employment arising from the deployment of innovative use-cases and technologies,” said the government in a statement.
The government expects that the Mid and High band spectrum will be utilised by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to roll-out of 5G technology-based services capable of providing speed and capacities which would be about 10 times higher than what is possible through the current 4G services.
On the backhaul, which connects broadband sites to the core network in a wireless manner, the government said the availability of sufficient backhaul spectrum is also necessary to enable the roll-out of 5G services.
To meet the backhaul demand, the Cabinet has decided to provisionally allot 2 carriers of 250 MHz each in E-band to the Telecom Service Providers. The Cabinet also decided to double the number of traditional Microwave backhaul carriers in the existing frequency bands of 13, 15, 18 and 21 GHz bands.
The spectrum auction, the government, said will be benefitted by the Telecom Sector Reforms announced in September, 2021. For the first time ever, the government said there is no mandatory requirement to make upfront payments by the successful bidders. Payments for spectrum can be made in 20 equal annual instalments to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year.
This is expected to significantly ease cash flow requirements and lower the cost of doing business in this sector. The bidders would be given an option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years with no future liabilities with respect to balance instalments,” said the government.
The auction will be held for spectrum in various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands.
“The 4G ecosystem created in the country is now leading to 5G indigenous development. The 5G test bed setup in 8 top technology institutes of India is speeding up the launch of domestic 5G technology in India,” said the government.
It further mentioned the PLI (Production-Linked Incentives) schemes for mobile handsets, telecom equipments and the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission is expected to help build a strong ecosystem for the launch of 5G services in India. The time is not far away when India is going to emerge as a leading country in field of 5G technology and the upcoming 6G technology.