5G Trials: DoT to meet telcos, vendors

New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will hold a meeting on February 20 with telecom operators and telecom equipment vendors to discuss a road map for 5G field trials in the country. The government has already received applications from Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

(BSNL) in mid-January for 5G field trials. "DoT has asked telcos to give presentations on 5G preparedness and use cases. Telcos will give presentations with their technology partners," a person familiar with the matter, said. Vodafone Idea and Airtel submitted their applications with Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and ZTE, while Reliance Jio with Korea’s Samsung, which is also the sole gear vendor for its pan-India 4G network.

State-run telco BSNL had submitted the application with ZTE only for trials. The telecom department will allocate the trial spectrum to its licensees, the telecom service providers.