Phased auction to hit roll-out of 5G services: Reliance Jio to DoT

Move follows satellite players' spectrum demand

Reliance Jio has opposed a move under consideration by the government to fragment the crucial millimetre wave band (mmWave) for 5G services in order to meet the claims of satellite communications’ service players.

The big players in the satellite space include Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal’s OneWeb and Elon Musk’s Starlink which are making an entry into India.

The proposal being considered is to offer for auction only the spectrum between 24.5 – 28.5 GHZ in the mmWave band for 5G mobile operators, instead of the 3GPP standardized band which is up to 29. 5 GHZ and is being used globally for 5G