5G Launch In India To Happen Soon As 5G Spectrum Auction Gets Scheduled For July 2022

Last Updated on June 16, 2022 by Anu Joy

India’s 5G auction was scheduled to happen earlier this month, but got delayed. Now, the Union Cabinet of the government of India has approved the proposal of DoT (Department of Telecommunications) to carry out the 5G spectrum auction.

DoT has announced that it will start taking applications from the bidders from July 1 to July 8. The agency will then publish the ownership details submitted by the bidders and they will be required to furnish an undertaking complying with the ownership restrictions before July 14, 2022. The 5G spectrum auction could take place towards the end of July 2022. 

The spectrum will be allocated to the successful bidders for providing 5G solutions to the consumers. A total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum will be auctioned. The bidders will hold the rights for the spectrum for a period of 20 years. The government stated that this time it will be mandatory to make an upfront payment. The bidders can make payments for the spectrum in 20 equal instalments, which should be paid in advance at the beginning of every year till its tenure.   

The auction will be conducted for the spectrum in 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 Mid and High frequency bands are believed to be used for the nationwide 5G services by the Telecom operators. According to DoT, 5G services will first be rolled out to only 13 cities—Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Jamnagar, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Kolkata.