Billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal have once again deferred on the timing of the possible rollout of 5G technology. While Ambani, which controls the country’s largest telecommunications service provider Reliance Jio, said the company is ready to offer a fifth-generation wireless service by the second half of 2021, Bharti Airtel’s Mittal chairman said it could take two to three years for the national telecommunications market to mature enough for 5G services.
Ambani, who spoke at the fourth edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC), said that India requires policy developments for early implementation of 5G services. He said that Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has built an indigenous 5G solution and will lead the rollout in India. “I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G revolution in India in the second half of 2021. It will be driven by locally developed technology components, hardware and networks. Jio’s 5G service will be a testament to Atma-nirbhar Bharat.” Ambani said.
However, this is not the first time that the two companies have disagreed on the issue. Mittal reiterated the position of Bharti Airtel Ltd’s top management that the country’s 5G ecosystem is underdeveloped and that the cost of spectrum is exorbitant. However, Jio plans to launch 5G as soon as the government tenders the spectrum. The telecommunications department (DoT) has indicated the sale of 4G spectrum in January-March. But there is no clarity on when the Center will sell 5G radio waves.
Meanwhile, Jio continues to work in the 5G space. In October, Jio Platforms Ltd announced that it is working with US-based Qualcomm Inc. to develop 5G solutions and accelerate efforts to bring the high-speed network to the world’s second-largest mobile market by subscribers.
Ambani, at RIL’s 43rd Annual General Meeting in July, said: “Jio has developed a complete 5G solution from the ground up. This will allow us to launch a world-class 5G service in India using 100% local technology and solution. “
He said that Reliance Jio will be able to easily upgrade its 4G network to 5G due to the telecom company’s converged network infrastructure. It’s unclear how Jio developed an indigenous 5G solution and solved India’s decades-long challenge of boosting local telecom manufacturing – 90% of telecom equipment is imported today.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings in its latest telecom outlook said that India’s 5G spectrum sale could be delayed if the government focuses on a 4G auction in 2021.
Rating agency Fitch in a recent report noted that 5G spectrum auctions could be delayed if the Indian government prioritizes 4G auctions next year to allow telcos to refresh spectrum in 800/900 Mhz bands in certain states. Furthermore, in the report, Fitch said that it expects limited participation from telcos such as Bharti and Vodafone Idea (Vi) in the 5G auction due to the high reserve prices set in the country by the regulator and limited use cases. .
.
