5G Frequency Spectrum in India

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecommunication (DoT) are expected to hold the first phase of 5G spectrum auction in the first quarter of 2021. Country’s telecom operators will be able to acquire spectrum in 3.3 GHz and 24 GHz (n78 and n258) bands in the first phase.

Following is the list of auctioned/upcoming 5G spectrum in India:

5G services are expected to be provided by three telecom operators: Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Idea-Vodafone.

Reliance Jio has made its own 5G solution in collaboration with various companies and is expected to conduct field trials as soon as possible. Airtel has partnered with Ericsson to provide 5G services in the country. This marks another step in the direction of avoiding Huawei 5G products and solutions.

Initially, the 5G spectrum auction was planned for the second quarter of 2020 but it got delayed because the auction price had to be revised as it was deemed too costly by the telecom operators. The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the auction process, and it is expected to be held in some time in 2021.

Spectrum in n78 and n258 bands will be auctioned in the first phase with more FR2 bands (mmWave) are expected to be auctioned later.

In 2017, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), announced that they are planning to auction the 3300-3400 MHz and 3400-3600 MHz bands to enable telecom operators to offer 5G services.

In Addition to this, at the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity Conference Preparatory Group for WRC-19, it was announced that India will also support the use of the 24.25 - 27.5 GHz band (i.e 26 GHz Band) as well as 31.8-33.4 GHz and 37-40.5 GHz frequency bands.

Like in most countries, 5G will start out in the lower frequency bands and then move to higher mm-Wave bands.