5G technology trials are likely to start in two-three months’ time in the country, as per the department of telecommunications. DoT informed the parliamentary committee on IT that it has already received 16 applications for 5G field trials.
“Notwithstanding the submission of TSPs (telecommunications service provider) and the industry body, it is really disturbing to note that 5G trials have not yet been permitted. This is in complete contradiction to what DoT had informed the committee during the examination of demands for grants (2020-21) in February 2020, that the government has allowed all applications for 5G trials in a limited area and for a limited time to test potential 5G India specific use cases,” the parliamentary committee said. The committee asked why spectrum for 5G trial has not been allowed when the DoT had mentioned that there are no major issues regarding the trials.
The panel asked the reasons for the delay considering that TSPs submitted their applications for 5G trials in January. “The committee would like to know the reasons for the delay in issuing spectrum for 5G trials to TSPs,” it said. The panel said the trials are a prerequisite to building the 5G ecosystem and DoT needs to take the issues of the experimental spectrum and early conduct of 5G trials more seriously.
It said any further delay will have an adverse impact on building the 5G ecosystem in the country and will further delay the launch of 5G services. 5G use case labs are being set up by DoT in areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, fintech, and public safety.