India’s 5G rollout. The wait for a 5G network in India may become a little longer as network speed-up supply in the country may be disturbed in the upcoming weeks.
This is because, starting 1st of July, 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) contemplates appraising all foreign-made network speed up for safety process at local research facilities under the Mandatory Testing & Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE) regulations.
Delay in India’s 5G rollout
The DoT directs that all network machinery be tested by local labs approved through its technical arm, the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), which could possibly delay 5G rollouts.
While the managers want to delay the time from July 1 to January 1, 2023. Since the important knowledge and skills have not yet been obtained by domestic labs, so comprehensive testing of the most advanced imported radio network hardware cannot yet be performed.
Another industry analyst believes that the government should delay the fosterage of local testing until January 2023 in order to make sure a smooth rollout of the 4G/5G network. Moreover, India plans to hold an auction for the 5G spectrum between the months of June and July, and it expects to make the first 5G call between the months of August and September.
A report by Economic Times, claims testing and authentication of network gear are very difficult and the Indian lab’s ecosystem is doing double Duty to get this expertise. But since they will be testing radio machinery for the first time, they need more time to increase the learning curve as training achievements have been blocked by the pandemic, lack of knowledge manpower, and restrictions on international travel.
We’ve pointed out to the government that while 2G technology is being pointed out in many countries, it’s still needed in India to support nearly 280 million 2G users, and so should be absolved from the MTCTE administration to make sure unblocked delivery of 2G services.
