Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Railways, Communication, Electronics and IT, expects the winners of this summer’s planned 5G spectrum auction to commence their network rollouts in August-September, with a view to achieving coverage of 20-25 towns and cities by end-2022. Speaking at an event over the weekend, the official stated: ‘I can say with confidence that 5G deployment will start in at least 20-25 cities and towns by year-end.’
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, India’s 5G auction will comprise more than 72GHz of spectrum across the 600MHz, 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz, 3.3GHz and 26GHz bands. Interested parties have until 8 July to submit applications, with the auction due to begin on 26 July. All licences will be valid for 20 years.