Airtel, Vi, Jio, MTNL Allowed To Test 5G In India; But No Chinese Vendors Allowed

A big group of telecom companies have been given the go ahead by the DoT to conduct trials for the use and application of 5G technology.

Reliance, Airtel, Vodafone and MTNL are a part of this group too.

Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Given Permission to Conduct 5G Trials

A group of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have been given the permission to conduct trials for the use and application of 5G technology by The Department of Telecommunications (DoT)

These include some big names, such as Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd., and MTNL.

The Centre has stated, “”The 5G technology is expected to deliver improved user experience in terms of data download rates (expected to be 10 times that of 4G), up to three times greater spectrum efficiency, and ultra-low latency to enable Industry 4.0.”

As per reports, these telcos have now joined hands with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers which include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and C-DOT. Also, Reliance Jio will also be conducting the trials with the help of its indigenous technology. In short, Chinese gear makers will not be included in the 5G trials.

As per reports, the DoT has allotted the experimental spectrum in various bands, which include the mid-band (3.2 GHz to 3.67 GHz), millimeter wave band (24.25 GHz to 28.5 GHz), and in Sub-Gigahertz band (700 GHz).

5G Trials To Run For Six Months

The TSPs will also be allowed to use their existing spectrum owned by them (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2500 MHz) to conduct 5G trials. 

The duration of the trials is six months as of now, and this includes a period of two months to procure and set up the equipment.

As per the Centre, these telcos have been asked to conduct these trials using the 5Gi technology in addition to the already existing 5G technology. This 5Gi technology has been approved by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and will be powerful enough to offer a much larger reach of the 5G towers and Radio networks. 

DoT has also stated that the trials will be isolated and not be connected with the existing networks of the telcos and that they will be conducted non-commercially. The data generated during the trial will be stored in India.