Reliance Jio, a leading telecom operator in India, has successfully tested 5G on the mmWave (millimetre wavelength) band. The test was carried out in the Gujarat Licensed Service Area (LSA). The development was posted by the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) wing of Gujarat. This test was done to carry out minimum rollout obligations. As per the minimum rollout obligations, telcos also need to deploy mmWave 5G before the end of one year from the date of obtaining the spectrum.
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In the previous spectrum auction held in 2022, Reliance Jio bagged spectrum in various bands, such as 700 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz. As of now, only Reliance Jio has done the testing in the mmWave band and 3300 MHz band. Bharti Airtel is likely to follow up as well. Vodafone Idea (Vi) is unlikely to be able to fulfil the minimum rollout obligations. The telco is struggling with raising funds, without which it can't place a commercial order with the vendors for 5G equipment.
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Reliance Jio's 5G services are now available in 6258 cities/towns across India. Reliance Jio is the only telco in the country that is deploying 5G standalone (SA) and using spectrum bands including 700 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz. The need for 26 GHz spectrum services is only going to arise in the enterprise sector for now.
The limited use cases of 5G for consumers make it a really difficult thing for the telcos to monetise 5G. Further, currently, the telcos are investing in providing a wide 5G coverage, before which they will not charge customers anything extra for it. Both Jio and Airtel have been offering 5G at no additional cost to customers for 10 months now. 5G was launched in India during the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022.
