Govt expects 5G rollout in early October: Vaishnaw

The 5G rollout will probably be the fastest compared to many geographies, the minister said

MUMBAI: The government expects the rollout of 5G services to start from early October in the country, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

“As soon as the spectrum auction ends, within a few days itself, we will allocate the spectrum. We expect that the 5G roll-out will happen from the beginning of October and within a year or so, we should have a good rollout in the country,” the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters here. The 5G rollout will probably be the fastest compared to many geographies, the minister said on the sidelines of the Telecom Investor roundtable: The Indian 5G Opportunity.

“We believe that we will probably buck the trend of having a much faster rollout of 5G compared to many other geographies since our other costs are significantly under control,” he added. Bidding for 5G spectrum entered the fifth day on Saturday amid continued interest for radiowaves from players such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

When asked whether the significant presence of Reliance Jio and Airtel will result in a duopoly, the minister said it will not happen as the reforms have brought in stability in the industry and there is healthy competition.

“Duopoly will not happen, the September reforms have resulted in good stability in the industry, we are looking at new players to enter the segment, and there is going to be good healthy competition in the sector. BSNL will emerge as a good market balancer,” he noted.

The 5G auction is doing well, which shows that the industry is taking off, and the results are very good. Close to Rs 1.49 lakh crore has been committed by the industry for buying spectrum, this shows how the sector is maturing, he added.

The minister also stated that the government is planning to change the entire legal structure that will enable the telecom industry to grow seamlessly.

“We have to make a modern law so that countries the world over emulate our legal structure as a global benchmark, since this is a global industry, not an isolated industry,” he said.

Spectrum as a resource should be utilized in a technology-neutral manner, options such as leasing spectrum, using 4G spectrum for 5G, etc. should all be allowed, these should be reformed so that there is a degree of certainty for the industry, the minister said.