India used to import networks; now we are one of the first to offer indigenous 5G: MoS IT

Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics, Rajeev Chandrasekhar expressed surprise at the rapid development of the indigenous 5G network and said India will be one of the first countries to employ this technology. The leader compared the recent development to how previously equipment for 2G, 3G and 4G networks were imported, but under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, India has been able to achieve self-reliance in rolling out 5G. 

“When the economies of other countries are suffering, India has shown they can get the value for their 5G networks at Rs 1.5 lakh crore,” said Chandrasekhar and added that the 5G networks to be implemented in the country will be run on the equipment built in India. “An important aspect about entering into the generation of 5G networks is it will be run on the equipment designed and manufactured in India.”

‘Equipment for previous generation of telecom networks was imported’: Chandrasekhar

MoS IT Chandrasekhar said India, in the era of 2G, 3G and 4G, imported the telecom equipment to roll out the networks, however, “Now, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the one hand, we are getting Rs 1.5 lakh crore from the spectrum auction; the citizens will get access to the latest technology and the telecom networks will be implemented using the equipment designed and manufactured in India. This is a moment of pride and milestone for India,” he said.

Surprised at the rapid development of indigenous 5G technologies

Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated he was stunned at, how quickly India has developed indigenous 5G technologies, “I was witness to the launch of the Digital India mission in 2015 and then, it didn’t occur to me that we will develop as a country so fast and in the span of just 5-6 years, we will be using indigenously-developed 5G technologies. India will become one of the first countries to develop indigenous 5G because of the leadership of PM Modi, who focussed on building capacities, capabilities and confidence.”

5G spectrum auction concluded

On August 1, the 5G spectrum auction concluded, with the Centre receiving a total bid amount of Rs 1,50,173 crore. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav informed, out of the total spectrum of 72,098 MHz on offer, 51,236 MHz has been sold in the auction, that began on July 26.

Reliance Jio Infocomm turned out to be the top bidder after they acquired 24,740 MHz, by bidding Rs Rs 88,078 crore for their spectrum. He also informed the citizens will be able to use 5G speeds on their phones by October. The payment for the spectrum, and other formalities will be over by August 12, he stated.