The Government of India is expected to award 5G frequencies during June
Indian operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the two only telcos in a position to buy pan-India 5G frequencies in the upcoming spectrum auction, according to a report by Bank of America (BofA) Securities.
“Higher reserve price is likely to disincentive any new telcos to bid in the auction and only telcos with strong balance sheets like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are in a position to buy pan-India 5G spectrum. It remains unclear how Vodafone Idea would fund its 5G bids,” the BofA Securities research note said.
According to the note, it would be difficult for any telecom firm, which has not bid for 5G spectrum in a particular circle to roll out 5G on the existing 4G bands, because the existing networks are running at a capacity, and hence there is limited free spectrum which could be carved out, the report stated.
According to BofA, Vodafone Idea has focused on certain circles and the telco is likely to selectively bid in their core 3G and 4G circles. “We believe Vodafone Idea would be further vulnerable if it doesn’t have pan India 5G spectrum,” the firm stated.
The BofA report also estimates that operators may be interested in the 3.5 GHz band in this auction while the 700 MHz frequencies may have limited interest given its high pricing.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to initiate the 5G auctions during June.
According to previous reports, India plans to award bands such as 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.3-3.6 GHz bands. Through the spectrum auction, operators will be also able to bid for spectrum in the millimeter-wave band.
Telecom equipment vendors have recently said that they will be ready to roll out the first phase of 5G in India by October.
According to a recent report in Indian newspaper Business Standard, telecom gear makers have said that they will be in a position to roll out 5G services in limited areas of the top 30-50 cities in India by March 2023.
The vendors said they were expecting Indian operators to give them details about their 5G deployment plans as well as the equipment required by July.
India’s main telecom equipment makers are Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
According to the gear makers, the first phase of 5G deployments in India will require 1,000 towers in each city, while capital Delhi will require 4,000 towers in total.
According to the vendors, a pan-India deployment of 5G services will require the installation of at least 225,000 towers in total, apart from the addition of 5G poles on street furniture and other equipment.
According to a previous Ericsson report, 5G will represent around 39% of mobile subscriptions in India at the end of 2027, estimated at about 500 million subscriptions.
