NEW DELHI: Mobile phone companies have demanded comprehensive support from the government, including financial aid, spectrum in certain bands and duty-free import of telecom equipment, in order to start field trials of fifth-generation (5G) technology.
In a recent letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), seen by ET, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said the government “must provide financial support” to the service providers as well as permissions, and fee for network equipment purchase should be waved off. The industry body represents Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm, as well as equipment companies such as Cisco, Ciena, Huawei, Ericsson and Sterlite.
The DoT has already invited telecom operators and network vendors to work together to undertake 5G-based pilots and showcase India-centric use cases by early 2019. The government expects commercial 5G services to be rolled out in 2020.
The letter comes even as the industry and DoT are sparring over the tenure of free airwaves for 5G trials. The wireless planning wing of the DoT has said free spectrum for 5G trials could be allocated only for 90 days, citing current rules. But telcos and equipment vendors said that at least a year was needed to run complicated field trials.

In the seven-page letter, COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said the operators should be allowed to choose original equipment manufacturers independently, with a single point of contact for all clearances related to newer technology-driven initiatives.

The group also sought confirmation on the availability of the C band (3300-3600 MHz) and 1800 MHz in addition to the Millimetre Wave (mmWave) 26 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum band for last-mile connectivity.

Both 26 and 28 GHz in addition to frequency ranges proposed by the regulator are required as other countries are commercially launching 5G on these bands, he said.

“The number of test subscribers for the trial period should be based on the agreement between telecom service providers and equipment makers,” Mathews said.

Source: gadgetsnow.com