India finally kicked off the 5G spectrum auctions this Tuesday on 26th July, 2022. The auction is currently in progress with India’s major telecom providers – Reliance Jio, Airtel, Idea-Vodafone, and the new entrant, Adani Data Networks — aggressively participating in the 5G bidding. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister for Electronics & IT in India, said that bids worth Rs 1.49 lakhs have been received so far. While spectrum bidding and allocation is underway, let’s learn about 5G bands supported in India. This will help you understand whether your 5G smartphone will be compatible with the 5G bands in India. On that note, let’s begin.
In this article, we have added all the supported 5G bands in India, including the low-band, mid-band, and top-tier mmWave frequencies. You can also find the list of supported 5G bands in a tabular format below.
What 5G Bands are Supported in India?
The 5G auction is currently ongoing in India, and it will last until August 14, 2022. However, some key information regarding 5G bands is already in the public domain. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has floated the sale of these 5G frequency bands: 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 3,300MHz, 3,500 MHz, and 26 GHz.
Among the auctioned frequency bands, there are two 5G bands that telecom giants are most interested in: the low-band 700MHz (n28) and mid-band 3500MHz (n78). The n78 (3300-3800MHz) spectrum is a popular 5G frequency band to deliver sub-6GHz 5G services to the masses. It comes under the mid-band category and can deliver speeds close to 1Gbps. Sure, it’s not as fast as the mmWave 5G, but it’s cost-effective, works over a larger range, and is accessible across the world.
Not to mention, 5G phones from Apple and Samsung to Xiaomi, Realme, etc., all come with the n78 5G band support. So yeah, the n78 5G band is supported in India. Even the original OnePlus Nord, which supports one 5G band, supports the n78 5G band. So yeah, you will also be able to enjoy 5G services when they launch in India. According to some reports, a good tranche of 3.5GHz airwaves has been bought by both Jio and Airtel.
Apart from that, telcos are aggressively bidding for the low-band 700MHz frequency as it’s being touted to bring 5G to both remote and dense areas. The 700MHz frequency band can easily penetrate walls and buildings and can extend the 5G coverage area significantly. It’s also twice as efficient as 900MHz and much cheaper than the 1800MHz frequency band, which is usually used in rural areas to extend the coverage.
Finally, Adani Data Networks and Jio are showing great interest in the ultra-fast mmWave 5G band, specifically the n258 band, also known as the 26GHz (24.25 – 27.5 GHz) frequency band. This is an elite, ultra-low latency 5G band that promises speeds up to 10Gbps.
List of Supported 5G Bands in India (August 2022)
Here is a list of all supported 5G bands in India. It’s not an exhaustive list, but as we get more information from the 5G spectrum bidding, we will keep updating this list.
5G Network Release Timeline in India
After the first day of the 5G spectrum auction in India, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the bidding of the 5G spectrum will be completed by August 14. That means it’s likely that Prime Minister Modi will announce the initial launch of 5G services on August 15, in line with recent speculations.
Four rounds of 5G auction has been completed. So far it is expected that the revenue generated is around Rs 1,45,000 crores. We have to complete this process by August 14 & 5G service in the country will start by September-October: Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pic.twitter.com/JDTTrigBvD— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2022
When will the 5G auction end in India?
Some of the supported 5G bands in India are n78, n77, n28, and n41. For a complete list, read our article to learn about the compatible 5G frequencies and bands in the country.
