Finance Minister announces plans for 5G auction

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has confirmed that the auction of 5G spectrum will take place in 2022, with the rollout of 5G services to be carried out in the 2022-23 financial year. The Economic Times writes that the minister made the announcement as part of her Union Budget 2022-23 speech, which also included plans for a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for local manufacturing of 5G equipment. In addition, the minister unveiled plans to award contracts for deploying fibre in all villages via a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in 2022-23, with the works expected to be completed by 2025. The government also plans to use 5% of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) contributions to finance research and development and commercialisation of solutions for the provision of affordable broadband services in rural and remote areas.