The ball is finally rolling for India’s 5G mobile networks, with the spectrum auction now complete after seven days of aggressive bidding. There is expectation that post deployment and testing, mobile service providers are expected to enable commercial 5G services in India’s telecom circles within the next few months. The government estimates this to be as early as October, with phased rollouts following soon.
If you’ve been waiting to upgrade to theoretically much faster mobile data services, what does it mean for your current smartphone and the next smartphone purchase?
Much like how it was with the previous generation network upgrades, your phone (or tablet or data card) should be capable of connecting with specific frequency bands under 5G, or the fifth-generation mobile networks. Therefore, you may need to buy a new phone that supports 5G if your current one doesn’t already make that claim, but it isn’t that simple.
Understanding 5G spectrum, and your smartphones
It was expected that all three mobile service providers — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vi — will acquire 5G spectrum. That’s exactly how it has panned out, with Jio leading the way, followed by Airtel and Vi. Adani Data Networks, the fourth player in this race, will be launching private networks on 5G with the spectrum they’ve acquired.
The specifics, since 5G consists of a variety of frequency bands, matter in the long term. Mobile companies have (in different quantities, if all, for different circles), acquired from a platter, including low frequency (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), mid frequency (3300 MHz) and the high frequency (26 GHz; this is also known as mmWave) bands.
“What must be understood for the long run is that even though the 700 MHz band can be considered an expensive spectrum, it is built to cover densely populated regions such as India which will truly benefit from this band and receive expansive 5G coverage,” Devroop Dhar, co-founder and board member at advisory firm Primus Partners, said.
Jio has acquired 24.740 GHz of 5G spectrum across telecom circles — this includes the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands. “The speed, scale and societal impact of Jio’s 4G rollout is unmatched anywhere in the world. Now, with a bigger ambition and stronger resolve, Jio is set to lead India’s march into the 5G era,” Akash M Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, said in a statement.
Airtel will have 19.86 GHz spectrum for its 5G services, including the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz frequency bands. “5G technology is the revolution that can alter India’s manufacturing, services and several other sectors,” Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel, said.
Vi, which has purchased 6.22 GHz worth of 5G spectrum, will work with the 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz frequency bands. “We have successfully acquired mid-band 5G spectrum (3300 MHz band) in our 17 priority circles and mmWave 5G spectrum (26 GHz band) in 16 circles,” Vi said in a statement.
Also Read:Record ₹1.5 lakh crore from 5G spectrum sale; Jio top bidder
Do ‘5G ready’ smartphones support all 5G bands?
The simple answer is no, and that’s what you’ll have to watch out for. Some phone makers will list out the frequencies, as we have spoken about above (in MHz and GHz), or you’ll see the compatibility listed out in ‘N’ range.
For the frequencies that will be in use by Jio, Airtel and Vi, this is what it means — 600 MHz (N71; no bidders this time), 700 MHz (N28), 800 MHz (N20), 900 MHz (N8), 1800 MHz (N3), 2100 MHz (N1), 2300 MHz (N30/N40), 2500 MHz (N41), 3300 MHz (N78) and 26GHz (N258; mmWave), in different calibrations and configuration.
Let us take the example of Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G phone (priced ₹20,999 onwards), which supports the N1/3/5/8/28/40/78 bands. In terms of what our 5G networks will shape up with, the N1, N3, N8, N28 and N78 bands will get you connected seamlessly. A look at the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G phone (priced around ₹41,999) confirms support for N1, N3 and N28 bands, in the Indian context (N5 and N7 are also supported).
The Apple iPhone 13 series phones, the latest models at this time, support N71, N28, N20, N8, N3, N1, N30, N41, N78 and N256 brands — one of the few phones that have support for all bands that’ll be used by Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vi. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra will work with N1, N3, N8, N20, and N28 bands.
OnePlus phones have the widest 5G support. The OnePlus Nord 2T 5G (priced around ₹28,999) has support for India’s 5G bands N1, N3, N5, N28, N40, N41 and N78. Incidentally, that’s the same as OnePlus 10R 5G, which is flagship-esque in terms of specs, and priced around ₹34,999.
What about your next smartphone?
For phones that support 5G bands in India, users should be able to seamlessly upgrade to 5G services and not necessarily have to worry about buying another phone. However, whether a SIM card change will be necessary or not isn’t clear yet. It may be required in some instances, but if yours is a more recent SIM, mobile service providers may be able to activate 5G on the same.
Not all phones have 5G capabilities. A lot of phones launched in the last couple of years skipped speculative support to save costs and keep prices in check. Some prominent examples include Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 Pro phone (priced ₹18,999 onwards). Neither does the recently announced Nokia C21 Plus ( ₹10,299 onwards). But these aren’t the only ones.
With the contours of India’s 5G now clear, expect the next line-up of smartphones and indeed the successors to the current ones, to be better armed with 5G frequency band support. Particularly in the Indian context. In a way, phone makers till now were to an extent, basing the spec sheet decision, on guesswork and global cues.
At this time, the most affordable 5G phones include the Samsung Galaxy M13 5G (priced around ₹13,999; there is also a non-5G variant as well), the Vivo T1 5G (costs around ₹15,990; this is not the T1 model which does not have 5G) and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G (around ₹19,999).
The next steps: 600 MHz support and focus on mmWave
From the auction that takes us one big step closer to commercial 5G networks in India, there seems to be an appetite for the 26 GHz band, which all four bidders have acquired in different quantities — the only frequency from the ones up for sale to have found a home in all four networks. This band, albeit offering a shorter range than the others, does offer the widest bandwidth. There may be applications for the mmWave 5G as alternatives to fibre broadband, with theoretical top speeds that can match or surpass wired broadband connectivity speeds.
“The launch of the 5G network will enable telecom operators to start providing a new generation of high bandwidth services to customers. 5G will allow enterprises to embark on the ‘Industry 4.0’ journey, and it will help accelerate digital transformation across industries spanning manufacturing, retail, utilities, smart cities and more,” Mahendra Nahata, managing director of telecom equipment manufacturing company HFCL, said.
While the 600 MHz band was up for auction, there were no takers. That is because the smartphone ecosystem has still not adopted support for this band, but that will likely change in the coming years. This band may be important for wider coverage areas, particularly in smaller towns, without having to increase physical network infrastructure.
The mid-band, the 3300 MHz frequency, can be critical for Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vi. This will provide the highest bandwidth this side of mmWave. There may be a case for utilising this to extend current 4G network capacity as well.
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