5G has indeed been one of the much-awaited developments for a while now, and as it turns out, the government was slammed by a Parliamentary Panel for its laid back approach, as well as delay in conducting the necessary trials for 5G. As has been stated in Mumbai Mirror ePaper Today, the Panel mentioned how enough preparation was not done so as to introduce 5G in the country thereby leading to a partial deployment of 5G, that too, only by the end of this year or even early 2022.
Department of Telecom under Question for Delay in 5G Trials
As per a report that has been made by the Parliament on Monday, Shashi Tharoor took to lead for the committee and mentioned how India is most likely to miss the bus of 5G as well, much like for 2G, 3G and 4G developments. He also mentioned how a time bound action is needed in those places where government can intervene and it is now necessary.
The Department of Telecom has come under the scanner for the delay in auctioning of the spectrum, and the committee has hence directed the DoT to do so as the earlier. The report also mentioned how the department had given an assurance to auction 3300MHz and 3600 MHz spectrums in the next six months.
The panel also mentioned the factors that have lead to the delay in 5G coming to India, and some of those include high spectrum prices, non-uniform right-of-way issues, not enough spectrum, poor development of use cases, among others.
Parliament Panel seeks an answer from DoT
Further, the committee also took note of the 5G trial applications submitted in January 2020, however, the guidelines for the same were not made clear to date, and also, a date for the trials has not been set just yet. However, the report also mentions how there are two contradictory statements after all as, on one hand, it has been said that permission for 5G trials haven’t been given yet, while on the other, DoT mentioned in February 2020 that the government allowed trials for only selective areas for a certain period of time. And now, the panel seeks an answer regarding the delay in the trials of 5G.
As has been informed by Anshu Prakash, DoT secretary, 5G will be riding on 4G technology in the beginning and only selective areas will receive 5G trials as stated earlier. However, he also mentioned that 4G will continue in India for the next few years and as a result of the discussion, the Parliament has inferred that the DoT did not do the necessary preparation to ensure 5G is launched in India.
While the panel is disappointed with how the DoT has caused a delay in the vision for 5G and failed to bring their words to action, it has also suggested that the DoT must work along with the Department of Space and Ministry of Defence so as to understand how to ensure the earliest roll out of 5G services in the country and acquire adequate spectrum.
Concerns Expressed by the Committee
Among other things that the committee spoke about, it also mentioned the decision from the government regarding TRAI’s recommendation to audit commercial as well as spectrum allocated to PSUs/government organizations. As for the pricing of the spectrum is concerned, the committee also suggested a review in pricing policy due to the difference in versions of telcos and TRAI in the pricing of spectrum in India.
Meanwhile, the DoT also informed the committee regarding not having banned any company, like Huawei or ZTE and that it was keeping a close check on the 5G development taking place across the world so as to ensure that it does take necessary measures after having evaluated all the pros and cons of 5G, including concerns related to social, economic and security.
Other concerns mentioned by the committee also include how 4G spectrum is still not given to BSNL/MTNL despite the Cabinet has approved the allotment of the same in a meeting on October 23, 2019.
As mentioned by the committee, it revealed how the fact that the revival of BSNL/MTBL is critical for the domestic telecom manufacturing industries for consuming only Indian manufactured goods and also the implementation of important schemes in remote rural areas. It stated the revival as important for national interest. Further, it has directed the DoT to also come through with the necessary measures to allocated 5G to BSNL and MTNL as the same time as private players so as the enable them to be relevant in the market.
