India ready for 5G service rollout after record bids in spectrum auction

The 5G spectrum auction in India has concluded with record bids of over INR1.5 trillion ($19 billion).

“5G spectrum is crucial for Indian telcos to power their revenue growth by offering ultra-high speed wireless network services. Despite the unfounded concerns around radiation levels or worries around higher prices, the next generation of mobile broadband is set to drive mobile data usage in India by 29% and data revenue by 67% between 2020 and 2026, forecasts GlobalData.

“Not surprisingly, the ongoing 5G spectrum auction for about 72 GHz of 5G radio waves of worth about INR 4.3 trillion has attracted the participation of not only prominent operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, but also billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Group, which is set to foray into the telecom services market through its subsidiary, Adani Data Networks.

“The encouraging results from the 5G spectrum auction shows that the Indian telecom sector has not just been able to overcome the challenges that it faced over the last few years but is ready for the expansion and 5G service rollout, which it aims to achieve by the end of this year. This sits perfectly with GlobalData’s mobile services forecast, which indicates that the 5G service subscriptions in the country are projected to reach 464 million by 2027.

“5G technology is expected to create more job opportunities and usher in the next phase of economic growth in India by enabling solutions such as connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, and cloud services. 5G can empower the organizations to build private networks. The technology will also allow manufactures to embark on the Industry 4.0 journey, and empower the smart city projects underway in the country. This should encourage digital businesses including edtech, healthtech, agritech, fintech, and e-commerce to further accelerate 5G adoption in India.”