The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) introduced on Tuesday that it might deliver telecom corporations a most of providers of 250 MHz every withinside the E band (71-seventy six GHz and 81-86 GHz) for backhaul of towers, or connection among mobileular towers, disposing of a extensive barrier and accelerating the roll out of 5G networks withinside the nation.
Despite requests from telcos, the authorities changed into not able to assign the much-wanted E band spectrum as it had now no longer but determined whether or not it’d be auctioned off like get admission to spectrum, given alongside get admission to spectrum, or supplied at an administrative fee as demanded with the aid of using the Broadband India Forum to be used in public Wi-Fi
Earlier, the regulator had counseled that E band spectrum be allotted for a fixed fee. Telcos, however, have been in opposition to it, arguing that the band ought to be positioned up for public sale to preserve a degree gambling field. However, the Union Cabinet authorized the 5G spectrum public sale and authorized the provisional venture of the backhaul spectrum.
In the interim, the authorities will price telecom carriers a nominal 0.15 percentage of adjusted gross sales for every E band carrier (this ought to charge telcos Rs 313 crore primarily based totally on their 2021 AGR). Based on the very last desire of the pricing mechanism, the expenses could be retroactively adjusted, beginning from the date of the provisional venture. If there may be a shortfall after the adjustment, no hobby could be charged.
According to enterprise estimates, the wide variety of telecom towers might grow from the present day 723,000 to over 1 million with the rollout of 5G. However, the simplest 34% of the nation’s current towers have fibre backhaul; the last towers use microwave and are powered with the aid of using traditional spectrum bands that have limited bandwidth however significant coverage. However, those bands can not assist 5G, which allows extraordinarily speedy net speeds and coffee latency; instead, it might require fibre or spectrum withinside the E band, which has a big bandwidth however a confined coverage.
Although fibre is the maximum effective, its unfolding has been hindered with the aid of using “proper of way” problems in diverse states and cities. In addition to being time- and money-consuming, burying fibre is likewise pretty expensive. These troubles ought to be solved with the aid of using E band.
Analysts expect that Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which have fewer towers with fiber-primarily based total connections, will enjoy the DoT’s decision. According to estimates, Reliance Jio has a fibre spine in over 60% of its towers, at the same time as the proportion for its competition degrees from 25% to 35%.
WHAT 5G IS?
Now, 5G is the most recent network standard that offers higher reliability, a larger network capacity, more availability, and a more consistent user experience than any other before (multi-Gbps peak speed). Low-band, mid-band, or high-band millimeter-wave 24 GHz to 54 GHz are all viable options for 5G deployment. Now, low-band 5G operates between 600 MHz and 900 MHz, mid-band 5G operates between 1.7 GHz and 4.7 GHz using mmWaves, and high-band 5G operates between 24 and 47 GHz. By the end of July, an auction for a total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum in India with a 20-year validity period will be held. Spectrum will be up for auction.
Spectrum in various low, mid, and high (26 GHz) frequency bands will be up for auction.
Difference between 4G and 5G
The interface for 5G is more powerful than that of 4G. While 4G can deliver download speeds of up to 150 mbps, 5G can deliver download speeds of up to 10 gbps, which is many times faster than 4G. With 5G, you can instantly download HD movies in their entirety. In comparison to the 50Mbps upload speeds on 4G networks, 5G networks can offer upload speeds of up to 1Gbps.
In addition, 5G can connect to many more devices than 4G. While 4G was a significant advancement that allowed people to stream music and videos while they were on the go, 5G is made to connect a much wider range of devices than smartphones.
WILL INDIA 5G BE PRICED HIGHER THAN 4G?
While there is currently little to no information about the pricing of 5G plans in India, it is anticipated that they will be slightly more expensive than the country’s 4G plans.
The cost of the internet in India is among the lowest in the world, and the rollout of 5G is not anticipated to change that. Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Airtel, previously stated that prices for 5G plans in India are anticipated to be comparable to those of the 4G plans we currently pay for.
