India to draw up 5G roadmap

Both India and Pakistan have this week taken steps towards the introduction of 5G in their respective countries.

The Indian government has set up a panel to draw up a roadmap for the rollout of 5G in the nation by 2020.

With the 5G committee, the government aims to avoid a repeat of the delayed adoption of 4G, with telecoms minister Manoj Sinha stating that the government aims that India will be on par with other 5G adopters in 2020.

In August, Indian telecoms regulator Trai launched a consultation on the design of 5G deployment regulations and standards, covering details including valuations, spectrum caps and rollout obligations for 5G spectrum.

Indian operators are meanwhile preparing for the arrival of 5G, with incumbent operator Bharti Airtel announcing this week that it is deploying MIMO technology on its network.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, the federal cabinet has approved the issue of a policy directive to regulator PTA that will allow local operators to conduct 5G tests.

One operator – China Mobile’s ZONG – has already indicated it is ready to test 5G if given permission. But the PTA has not yet revealed its plans for assigning test 5G spectrum to various operators.