Expect 5G launch in India by August or September: IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Furthermore, Vaishnaw stated that although the auction is in July, the process for it has already begun. Airtel, Jio, and Vi are performing trials of their 5G networks across the country and are set to roll out the network.

When will 5G services launch in India?

Union Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the 5G rollout will happen soon after the spectrum auctions. “Telecom companies are already working in parallel to set up the entire infrastructure. The auction is on time. July was the timeframe for the auction. August-September was the timeframe to begin rollout,” Vaishnaw told PTI in an interview.

Earlier reports have indicated that the 5G network rollout will happen on August 15th. However, the Minister hasn’t given the exact date for the rollout but the timeline for rollout set by the government is in line with what was previously reported. 5G is expected to be 10 times faster than 4G. The telecom networks will utilise the mid and high-band spectrum to roll out the 5G technology-based services capable of providing speed and capacities, which would be 10 times higher than the current 4G network.

The government will auction the 72097.85MHz of the spectrum with 20 years of validity by July end. These include 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz. In its first phase, 5G services will be rolled out in 13 major cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Chandigarh. More cities and towns will be added to the list soon.