Telcos get six-month 5G trial extension, spectrum auction may get delayed

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has extended the validity of the 5G trials licence to Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for another six months.

Conceding to the telcos’ requests for more time to test their 5G networks, the licence, which was to expire in end November, has now been extended till the end of May, 2022.

The move, together with various contentious issues on spectrum and auctions raised by telcos and lack of clarity on the base price of the 5G spectrum, is expected to further delay the auction, which was slated for the March quarter next year. It would also impact the rollout of the network, which several analysts say might now happen only by the end of 2022 or even later.

According to industry estimates, nearly 1,660 cities globally have some sort of 5G, and based on GSA data for June 2021, as many as 58 countries already have 5G networks. This leaves India far behind in the 5G race.

Telcos had sought extension of the 5G trials primarily because both Bharti Airtel (with the Tatas) and Reliance Jio are testing their indigenous build network capability based on open radio access networks, which include 5G Core and 5G Radio. Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal had, in a media call, said that the network equipment they are building with the Tatas should be up for trial sometime in April next year.

Also, DoT has been pushing India telcos to test the networks based on indigenous 5Gi standards developed by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) under the aegis of the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India. They say the standards are capable of providing broadband connectivity in rural India using ultra long range cell sites. Telcos, however, are sceptical and argue that an India-specific standard, instead of the globally acceptable 3GPP, will only increase overall cost of the network and mobile devices.

There are also the 5G spectrum and auction issues that telcos have raised. For instance, Reliance Jio has opposed a move under discussion to fragment the crucial spectrum in the millimetre wave band (mmWave) for 5G services to meet the claims of satellite communication service players. The proposal being considered is to offer for auction only the spectrum between 24.5 and 28.5 GHZ in the mmWave band for 5G mobile operators, instead of the 3GPP standardised band, which is up to 29.5 GHZ. 

Telcos are also not in favour of a view emerging in the government for a staggered and piecemeal auctioning of the 5G bands, with the mid band 3300-3670 being put on the block first and a decision on auctioning the mmWave band being taken later (the process for deciding its base price has just begun after a DoT reference to TRAI). 

There is also lack of clarity on whether the backhaul spectrum, used for powering microwave links amongst towers, will be given through an administrative price mechanism or be auctioned. The government is also considering a Spectrum Act to resolve some of the issues.