According to the Department of Telecom (DoT), 5G telecom services would be available in certain locations throughout India next year. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea have established 5G testing sites in various locations around the country. According to the Department of Transportation, “these metros and major cities will be the first to see the debut of 5G services in the country next year.”
In September 2021, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sent a reference to the industry regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), seeking recommendations for the auction of spectrum identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)/ 5G in terms of a price, band plan, block size, the quantum of spectrum to be auctioned, and associated conditions for auction of spectrum in 526-698 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz
For those who are unaware, 5G primarily operates across three frequency bands: low, mid, and high. The low band spectrum has a speed limit of 100 Mbps. The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, provides faster speeds than the low band but has restrictions in terms of coverage area and signal penetration. The internet speed in the high-band spectrum can reach 20 Gbps. The fastest internet speed measured in 4G is 1Gbps.
Here are the names of these cities:-
Delhi
Bharti Airtel carried out India’s first 5G testing at Bhaipur Bramanan hamlet, which is located on the fringes of the Delhi-NCR area. Ericsson’s 3GPP-compliant 5G radio powered the 5G site infrastructure. It was carried out in the 3,500 MHz range as well as the current FDD spectrum band.
Chandigarh and Lucknow
Lucknow and Chandigarh are the other two cities expected to gain a 5G connection next year. Though no data regarding 5G trials in these locations are available, they do appear on the DoT’s list of places where 5G will be carried out next year.
Gurugram
Bharti Airtel’s 5G testing network went online at Cyber Hub in Millennium City in June of this year. According to DoT standards, the facility is operating in the 3500 MHz spectrum with Ericsson’s 5G equipment.
Bangalore
According to reports, Airtel began 5G experiments in Bengaluru in November this year in the 3,500 MHz band spectrum allocated by the DoT for trials. Airtel intends to trial many use cases in Bengaluru in collaboration with Accenture, AWS, Cisco, Ericsson, Google Cloud, Nokia, TCS, Apollo Hospitals, Flipkart, and various manufacturing firms. Smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, quality inspection, digital twin, linked frontline workforce, and AR/VR-based use cases will be among the solutions examined.
Kolkata
Last month, Bharti Airtel conducted India’s first 5G experiments on the 700MHz frequency in Kolkata. According to DoT rules, the test was conducted in standalone mode on the outskirts of Kolkata utilizing Nokia’s 5G equipment, comprising AirScale radios and a standalone core. According to the business, it was able to establish high-speed wireless coverage of 40 kilometres between two 5G stations.
Mumbai
In June and July of this year, both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel performed 5G experiments in Mumbai. Reliance Jio is said to have employed made-in-India equipment for the experiments, which were conducted in both the mid and millimetre wave bands.
Airtel also conducted 5G experiments in the Phoenix Mall in Mumbai’s Lower Parel neighbourhood. During the experiments, the business employed Nokia equipment and claims to have achieved a download speed of 1.2Gbps with super-low latency and an upload speed of 850Mbps.
Jamnagar
Reliance Jio conducted 5G testing in the semi-urban and rural parts of Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Ahmedabad and Gandhi Nagar are two cities in Gujarat.
Last month, Vodafone India performed a 5G experiment in Ajol village in Gujarat. The test was carried out with a base transceiver station (BTS) situated 17 kilometres distant in Unava town, Gandhinagar district. Nokia’s equipment was utilized by the firm.
Hyderabad
Airtel said in January of this year that it has successfully tested the 5G service on a commercial network in Hyderabad. The live tests were carried out using the company’s current liberalized spectrum in the 1800 MHz band using NSA (Non-Stand Alone) network technology.
Chennai
DoT officials stated in September of this year that the testbed created by IIT Chennai will soon be operational and ready for industrial 5G testing. The goal of the testbed is to encourage entrepreneurs and the industry to employ displays that are close to real-world 5G deployments.
Pune
Vodafone Idea performed 5G testing in Pune in November of this year, utilizing Ericsson’s 5G equipment. The business conducted the tests using the DoT-allocated 26GHz and 3.5GHz mm-Wave spectrum. The business claimed to have achieved 1.5Gbps on 3.5GHz and 4.2GHz on 26GHz during the test.
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