5G Spectrum Auction THIS YEAR! Confirms FM in Union Budget 2022-23

tech.hindustantimes.com:

5G auctions are happening in 2022-23! Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has confirmed the 5G auction while announcing the budget for 2022-23. She said that the spectrum auction will be conducted to roll out 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private firms.

In the Union Budget 2022-23 speech, Sitharaman also said that a voluntary exit for corporates will be cut down to 6 months from the earlier tenure of 2 years. She also informed that surety bonds will be made acceptable to reduce indirect costs for suppliers.

Sitharaman also confirmed that a scheme for design-led manufacturing in 5G will be launched as part of the PLI scheme.

While the 5G auctions for the year 2022-23 have been confirmed, no set date ahs been announced yet. The auctions are expected to happen sometime later in the year, with all the private telecom players participating to get their license before deploying 5G networks in the country.

Spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate rollout of 5G mobile services. A scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of PLI scheme: FM @nsitharaman #AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget pic.twitter.com/hVfdzF9jSi

As part of the frontrunners for 5G network launch in India, we expect Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to to battle it out for deploying 5G networks as soon as the auction gets over. Jio and Airtel have already been testing their 5G networks across several circles, with most of them surrounding the large commercial centers.