The Indian 5G Spectrum Auction is live as we release this episode. Bids for 72GHz of spectrum across various bands from 700MHz, through mid-band (C band) including High band (26GHz) across multiple LSA, were available. Govt mightily pleased with the results so far, as on day 1 itself they received commitments of over Rs. 1.49 lakh Cr (roughly $18.1bil), and at this point on day 3 bidding is still in progress.
Jio Platforms Limited (of Reliance Industries) is going all out in bidding for best-suited bands – 700MHz, 3.3-3.6GHz, and 26GHz, and select bands in between making sure its pan-India 5G dream becomes a reality. Jio also released its quarterly earnings report which looks very good with robust subscriber growth, with its overall base now around 420 million.
Jio is also making much of the technology in-house with its own engineering set-up – a far cry from the Huawei and ZTE-led network build-out that happened in its earlier avatar as Reliance Communications (RCOM). At this point, Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung are also in discussions with both Jio and Airtel for network equipment contracts. In all probabilities, it is likely that by the Oct-Nov timeframe 5G roll-outs will start out in select locations within India.
In other developments, DoT has also released permission for immediate allocation of E-Band for MNOs on an administrative basis to make it easier for backhaul applications for those cell sites with no fiber. This is a serious requirement in India as the level of fiberization is quite low and it will become a serious bottleneck for the meaningful deployment of 5G.
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