5G India launch today? Here's what we know in 7 points

5G spectrum auctions in India are over, and the wait for the official rollout is still going on. During the seven-day auction process last month, India's biggest telco, Reliance Jio, emerged as the largest spender, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vi. However, only Jio and Airtel have officially expressed their plans for a stable rollout this month (August 2022), but details remain unclear. Ahead of that, many reports are claiming either of the companies could roll out 5G on Independence Day -- August 15.

While the companies are yet to provide an official date, here is everything we know so far in seven points.

--Earlier this month, Reliance Jio Infocomm's chairperson, Akash Ambani, said that the company would celebrate 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' with a pan-India 5G rollout. The company has promised "affordable 5G services" in India, similar to its 4G network.

--During the long 5G spectrum auction, Jio emerged as the largest spender. The company acquired almost half of all the airwaves sold, which is worth more than Rs 88,000 crore. Jio has also acquired spectrum in the premium 700MHz band. At this point, it is more valuable than high-end the 1GHz or affordable 600MHz bands as the support for 700MHz is deployed globally on many devices.

--Bharti Airtel, in a blog post, clearly states its 5G deployment in India will take place in August 2022. The company has network agreements with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to commence the project. Airtel has not acquired any spectrum in the 700MHz band, though it purchased a total of 19.8GHz of spectrum in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz bands.

--Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon had also told India Today that 5G plans in India would cost similar to 4G subscriptions.

--Meanwhile, Vi (formerly Vodafone Idea) bought spectrum for Rs 18,799 at the auction. Vi has bought the mid-band 5G spectrum (3300MHz bands) in 17 priority circles. The company has not clarified plans for rollout in India, yet.

--Adani Data Networks Limited, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, was among the four companies that participated in the auction organised by DoT. It acquired spectrum only in the 26GHz band and spent Rs 212 crore. Adani has clarified that it will build networks for business and currently has no plans for a rollout for regular customers.

--Prime Minister Narendra Modi also talked about the launch of 5G services in India during his Independence Day speech from Red Fort (in New Delhi) today. Some reports claim that PM Modi will launch 5G at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) on September 29.