Why the teclos want the 700MHz bands in 5G auctions? – Smartprix

India is all set to witness the 5G network support firsthand as the auctions in the country for the same ended today. As for the records, Telco giants like Reliance and Bharti Airtel have placed bids of around Rs 1,50,173 crore on the very first day of the auction. The 5G spectrums that are being auctioned right now in the country are 600MHz, 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz, 2500MHz, 3300MHz, and 26GHz bands.

Coming to the main point, the 700MHz band is hailed as the premium band out of the lot. The main reason behind it is that the companies get to cut costs and offer better network coverage with the band. The 700MHz bands have the ability to penetrate buildings with ease and have a low frequency which will help telco giants in providing a better network in jam-packed areas.

However, the 700MHz remain unsold in the 2016 auctions because of the high reserve price. It is quite understood that when the telcos are delivering the best calling and data services at affordable prices, they will not go for premium bands as the sole decision can be a reason for huge monetary loss.

It is also an assumption that the telcos have been waiting for the 5G auction to grab the opportunity of purchasing 700MHz bands. There were four participants in the auction including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, an Adani Group firm, and Vodafone Idea. For your information, Reliance Jio has been the most aggressive participant in terms of buying bands in the auction.

The Indian government is eyeing to allocate the spectrum by August-mid. Ashwini Vaishnav, the telecom minister of India, has said that the telcos can start deciding the price of tariff plans.

What are 700MHz bands and why they are the star of the night?

Trust me when I say that there is no rocket science behind the above question. It is based on the simple fact that the range between 698MHz to 860MHz is highly efficient as compared to 1800MHz. The 700MHz bands will enhance the abilities of 5G services considering all the population density and congestion in the country.

The 5G services will be rolled out in the urban areas of the country first, similar to the 4G wave. Apart from that. 4G connectivity will also be a part of the game for around five more years. This brings up a challenge in front of telcos, like how they will offer better speed and other services to make the customers pay more.

The following table lists the specified frequency range and their corresponding bands:

Is your recently bought 5G phone will work in India?

Most of the 5G phones launched in India in recent years support N28 band. Since most Telcos are bidding for 700Mhz frequency we expect most 5G phones launched in India should support 5G network whenever teleco’s roll out 5G service in users’ cities.

What else is on the cards?

Amidst all this, BSNL could play a trump card by improving its network providing capabilities and challenging all the telcos in the 4G segment. Though it’s a wild assumption and we are not expecting a lot from BSNL. But still, the company has the perfect chance to make it count as 4G is not going anywhere after the 5G network launch.

When can we expect 5G rollout in India?

The rollout of the 5G services for the masses will start around Diwali 2022. As of now, there are no details regarding the pricing of the 5G plans. Nevertheless, we are expecting to know more about the same as soon as the launch date approaches.

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