The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in a note, said that it will not charge any fee for 5G rollout obligations testing. The telcos were asked to meet the rollout obligations by August 17, 2023. This was meant for both 5G in 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum bands. The telcos, including Airtel and Jio, met all the rollout obligations. Vodafone Idea (Vi) only tested 5G in Pune and Delhi to meet the obligations, hence, the company didn't comply with complete rollout obligations set by the government. The penalty for Vi hasn't been announced by the DoT officially yet. But there were penalty guidelines already announced for anyone who didn't meet the minimum rollout obligations. Whether those guidelines are followed in the same manner or not is something unknown.
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The telecom operators are required to offer sites in a prescribed manner to the DoT for the verification of compliance with rollout obligations. For the same, the telecom department said that it will charge zero fees for testing in 3300 MHz and 26 GHz spectrum bands.
Reliance Jio has covered over 96% of census towns with 5G. Bharti Airtel has said that it has covered more than 5000 towns/cities with 5G. Both telcos are employing different strategies for their 5G rollout. Vodafone Idea couldn't manage to launch 5G as per the rollout obligations due to insufficient access to funds.
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The cash-strapped telecom operator has been eyeing to close a successful fundraising but that hasn't happened so far. Without fundraising, Vi can't place a commercial order with equipment suppliers such as Nokia and Ericsson. DoT had said that those who fail to comply will have to pay a penalty fee in a weekly manner. Otherwise, the telecom department also has the option to take the spectrum back from the company. Adani Data Networks is another company that hasn't met the minimum rollout obligations.
