Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks had failed to fulfill with the minimum 5G rollout obligations in India
India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sent notices to local operators Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks, seeking an explanation as to why fines should not levied on them for failing to meet the minimum rollout obligations stipulated on 5G licenses, according to local press reports.
Government official said that the 5G licenses stipulated fines for those telcos failing to fulfill with the minimum rollout obligations.
DoT has also issued notices to both companies to seek explanations for the delay and the timelines by which they will be launching 5G services.
According to the 5G minimum rollout obligations, those carriers who had secured 5G spectrum had to commercially launch services in metro as well as non-metro cities.
Indian telcos Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel started to deploy their 5G networks in October 2022. However, both Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks are yet to launch 5G services.
Adani Data Networks had acquired 5G spectrum for the deployment of private network deployment in several sectors including ports, logistics, and power generation among others.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Vodafone Idea, Akshaya Moondra previously said the operator will miss the minimum rollout obligations in 15 out of the 17 circles where it had acquired spectrum in during the July 2022 5G auction.
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Reliance Jio Infocomm recently said it had completed its 5G rollout across India, while Bharti Airtel said it expected to complete the deployment by March 2024.
India had completed its first 5G spectrum auction in 2022. Reliance Jio walked away with the most spectrum, having spent $11 billion. Airtel won spectrum worth $5.4 billion, while Vodafone received spectrum worth $2.4 billion. Finally, Adani purchased spectrum worth approximately $27 million.
The DoT plans to conduct a new spectrum auction in March, because spectrum permits of local carriers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea expire in 2024 in certain areas of the country.
According to government officials, all the unsold frequencies from the previous spectrum auction, as well as some additional frequencies in the 37 GHz band, will be put up on sale in the upcoming process.
Previous reports stated that local operators Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel could probably be the sole bidders in the upcoming auction, because Vodafone Idea lacks the funds to bid in the process.
Bharti Airtel previously said it won’t buy airwaves in the 700 MHz band in the next 5G spectrum sale. The company noted it will only focus on the acquisition of frequencies in those markets where its spectrum holdings are expiring in 2024.