While the smartphone market in India has already seen the launch of a number of 5G enabled devices, 5G networking is still not commercially available in the region. Now, a new report has revealed that the original plans for 5G auctions might be even further delayed as well.
Previously, we had reported on the Indian government planning on holding the 5G spectrum auction in November 2021. However, this was rumored to have been pushed back to the first quarter of next year. But now, it seems like the auctions have been postponed even further. The reason for the delay is the six month 5G trial extension that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given to a number of telecommunication operators in the country.
This includes the likes of Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea (Via ETTelecom). Initially, these telecos were granted permission to conduct trials in the 3500MHz band that was allocated by the government. But while these trials were set to expire later this month on November 26, the Department of Telecommunications has apparently extended the 5G trials by an additional six months. This, in turn, means that the 5G spectrum auctions might be held at a date around May of next year.
The news arrives from sources close to the mater who stted that a lot of works still needs to be done on spectrum availability. Furthermore, even the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also yet to provide recommendation on a number of bands. This includes the 700 MHz, 3.3 to 3.6GHz and the millimeter wave.
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