The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) declared that 5G internet services will be launched in India in 2022. 13 cities across the nation will obtain 5G at the start.

These 13 cities are Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gurugram, Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

The government did not confirm which telecom operator will be the first to commercially launch 5G services. All the three top telecom operators like Jio, Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea) have already installed trial sites in these cities.

DoT eight has tied up with eight agencies for the Indigenous 5G Testbed project begun in 2018 and is ready to be achieved by December 31, 2021. These agencies are the IIT Delhi, Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT).

The project, worth Rs 224 crore is expected to be achieved by December 31, 2021, paving the way for end-to-end testing of 5G User Equipment (UEs) and network equipment by 5G stakeholders developing 5G products or services or use cases, comprising indigenous start-ups, SMEs, Academia and Industry in the nation.

DoT additionally told the media that, in September 2021, a reference has been sent to TRAI, asking for suggestions for the auction of spectrum recognised for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)or 5G concerning reserve cost, band plan, block size, the quantum of spectrum to be auctioned and conditions of auctions in 526-698 MHZ,700 MHZ, 800 MHZ, 900 MHZ, 1800 MHZ, 2100 MHZ, 2300 MHZ, 2500 MHZ, 3300-3670 MHZ and 24.25-28.5 GHz bands for 5G public and private 5G networks, for meeting the spectrum needs of captive 5G applications of the industry (Industry 4.0). The process of assignment of frequencies to TSPs would be started at the earliest possible.

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