Budget 2023 | Centre to set up 100 labs to effectively develop 5G services

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced that the government will set up 100 labs to effectively develop 5G services during her 2023-24 Budget speech which she presented in Parliament. The labs will cover applications such a smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport system and healthcare.

The Department of Telecommunication has been allocated Rs 97,570.05 crore, while Rs 5.56 crore has been assigned to 5G connectivity test beds.

The telecom sector has been at the centre of the mobile telephony disruption in India, which began with the rollout of 5G in October. As of the moment, more than 50 cities in the country have access to 5G services.

In the 5G Mega Spectrum Auction in August, Reliance Jio had bagged a total of 24,740 megahertz of 5G spectrum — 220 MHz in the 700 MHz band in 22 circles, 20 MHz in the 800 MHz band spread across four circles, 60 MHz across six circles, 2,440 MHz in the 1800 MHz band, and 22,000 MHz in the 26 GHz band spread across 22 circles.

The company claims it has a standalone 5G architecture that does not depend on the 4G network at all, the largest mix of 5G spectrum across bands — 700 MHz, 3500 MHz, 26 GHz, and Carrier Aggregation, an advanced technology that seamlessly combines these 5G frequencies into a single robust “data highway”.

Airtel acquired 19,867.8 MHz spectrum by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands in the 5G auction. According to a statement given earlier, the telecom firm has also cleared Rs 24,333.7 crore of its deferred spectrum liabilities in the last year.

"The setup of 100 labs to develop 5G in the country will better network connectivity in every nook and corner and further help more sectors and communities to access the benefits of 5G networks. The focus on green growth as a priority aligns with HMD Global’s commitment to sustainability, and gives greater impetus to cleaner, greener tech for a better tomorrow," said Sanmeet Singh Kochhar, VP — India & MENA, HMD Global.