The Indian government is expected to launch the 5G auction in June
According to Indian press reports, the Telecom Department of India (DoT) may use infrastructure owned by power distributors to set up 5G small cells across the country.
As part of the initiative, the government will sign agreements with electricity distributors, cable operators and municipal authorities to use their utility poles for setting up small cells and provide optical fiber backholes to these cells.
PD Vaghela, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, said:
The regulator is also considering how effectively street furniture owned by smart city, airport, port and railway operators can be used to set up 5G networks. According to TRAI, the use of street furniture will reduce the capital expenditure of telecom operators.
The Indian government is expected to meet the price of 5G spectrum next week to start the pending 5G auction in the country. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to launch the 5G auction by next month.
According to previous reports, India plans to offer bands like 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.3-3.6 GHz. Through spectrum auctions, operators will also be able to bid for spectrum in the millimeter-wave band.
Telecom equipment vendors have recently said that they will be ready to launch the first phase of 5G in India by October.
According to a report in an Indian newspaper Business standardTelecom gear makers say they will be in a position to launch 5G services in a limited area of India’s top 30-50 cities by March 2023.
Vendors said they expect Indian operators to announce details of their 5G deployment plans as well as the equipment required by July.
The major telecom equipment manufacturers in India are Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
According to gear makers, the first phase of 5G deployment in India will require 1,000 towers in each city, compared to a total of 4,000 towers in the capital Delhi.
According to vendors, a pan-India installation of 5G services would require a total of at least 225,000 towers in addition to the addition of 5G poles to street furniture and other equipment.
According to an earlier Ericsson report, 5G will represent about 39% of mobile subscriptions in India by the end of 2027, with an estimated 500 million subscriptions.