Earlier this year, the Government of India officially confirmed plans to hold a 5G spectrum auction in the country sometime in 2022. In the same announcement, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed that commercial 5G deployment is planned for 2022-2023. Currently, a new PTI report, citing the Minister of Communications of India, ensures that the spectrum auction is on schedule.
5G spectrum auction in India on schedule
India’s Minister of Communications reports PTI Ashwini Vaishnaw said the 5G spectrum auction in India is on schedule and within the defined schedule... Vaishnaw said the 5G auction will be held “absolutely” on schedule, he told reporters at the second national conference on cybercrime investigations and digital forensics.
This development has come at a time when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations for pricing 5G spectra have been delayed. Initially expected before March 2022, there are no recommendations as of the first week of April. Given the urgency of the issue, we can expect TRAI to issue a recommendation this month.
According to a PTI report citing high-ranking TRAI officials on March 29, Set to come out within 10 days.. This basically corresponds to April 8th as the deadline for recommendations. That said, you have to wait to see if the recommendations will be published by the weekend.
While still waiting for the 5G auction, carriers, including Airtel, are testing in different parts of India. Meanwhile, the government wants the first 5G to go on sale by August 15, and has asked TRAI to speed up pricing for the 5G spectrum.
