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siliconindia | Friday, 28 May 2021, 05:41 Hrs
DoT assigns 5G trial spectrum in the 700 Mhz, 3.5 Ghz and 26 Ghz bands, paving the way for Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) to associate with non-Chinese network vendors and develop India-relevant use cases on the next-gen fast wireless broadband technology.
The DoT’s wireless planning & coordination (WPC) wing late Thursday evening assigned “100, 800 and 10 units of experimental 5G airwaves to the Big 3 telcos in the 3.5 Ghz, 26 Ghz and 700 Mhz bands respectively,” a senior telco executive told ET. The 5G trial airwaves have been allocated for six months, he added.
Allotment of 5G trial spectrum is particularly crucial for Jio and Airtel, who already have 5G-ready networks and have recently bulked up on crucial airwaves in the recent auction to cater to the surge in data usage amid Covid and also future-proof themselves ahead of 5G rollouts.