PM Modi to launch 5G services on Saturday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch 5G services in the country tomorrow during the inauguration of 6th edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC-2022).

The commercial rollout of 5G by mobile operators is planned to be commenced after that. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have announced plans to start 5G in October and the metros will be provided with services by Diwali.

As per an official statement, the launch of 5G services follows years of intense preparation. Recently, 5G spectrum auction was conducted successfully through which 51,236 MHz airwaves were allocated to telcos and the government garnered a gross revenue of Rs 1,50,173 crore. The auction aggregated the demand for a robust 5G ecosystem that can cater to its use cases involving IoT, M2M, AI, Edge Computing, Robotics etc.

To facilitate a faster 5G rollout, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has amended right of way (RoW) Rules 2016 in August 2022, wherein the charges for RoW permissions have been made reasonable and a ceiling for RoW charges for installation of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on street furniture has been fixed.

5G can unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits giving it the potential for being a transformational force for Indian society. It will help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovations by startups and business enterprises as well as advance the ‘Digital India’ vision. The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is expected to reach $450 Billion by 2035.