5G Launch In India To Start From October 2022, Says Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

India’s 5G spectrum auction was successfully concluded early this month. Following the auction, the government was quick to issue spectrum assignment letters to telecom companies. Now, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has revealed that 5G services will finally start rolling out in India from October.

5G India Launch Date Announced

According to a PTI report, Vaishnaw has announced that 5G will launch in India by October 12, 2022. The IT minister assured that the government is working on rolling out 5G services as soon as possible.

Vaishnaw said, “We are planning to roll out 5G services rapidly. The telecom operators are working in that regard and installations are being done. Hopefully, we should be launching 5G services by October 12 and then would further scale up in cities and towns. We will ensure that it remains affordable. The industry is focusing on both urban as well as rural areas.”

5G India Launch: What To Expect

India’s 5G spectrum auction was completed earlier this month, following 40 rounds of bidding. The Indian government collected a total bid amount of ₹1,50,173 crore within a span of one week. Following the auction, Vaishnaw requested telcos to prepare for the 5G launch in India.

Airtel had previously announced that it will be rolling out 5G in the country from August this year. The telco plans to offer 5G in all towns and major rural areas in India by March 2024. The telco stated, “We intend to launch 5G starting August and extend to a Pan India roll out very soon. By March 2024 we believe we will be able to cover every town and key rural areas as well with 5G.”

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had revealed that 5G services will first arrive in these cities—Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurugram, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jamnagar, and Gandhi Nagar.

Now that 5G services are scheduled to arrive in India in a few of months, we can expect higher data speeds. Keeping India’s 5G rollout in mind, numerous smartphone brands have been launching 5G phones in the country for the past few years. Apart from increased data speeds, 5G will likely expedite the development of new innovations in telemedicine, industrial automation, “smart” agriculture, robotics, and other sectors.