The Department of Telecommunications is expected to telecom operators including VI, Airtel and Reliance Jio to start trials of 5G technology in rural areas. The companies have already received permission to conduct 5G trials in urban areas. It is being reported that stated-owned telecom firm MTNL will also get permission to conduct 5G trials once it submits the fee of Rs 5000.

“The DoT will ask telecom operators to include a rural area for testing 5G applications along with their urban centres.MTNL has teamed up with C-DoT for conducting 5G trials in Delhi. They will conduct a 5G test near Najafgarh as well. They will be given a trial spectrum once they deposit the fees,” a government official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The report further states that so far the trials of 5G with Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT have been approved by the DoT. None of the Chinese vendors have received any approval from the DoT as of now. Reliance Jio will apparently conduct trials using its own technology along with Samsung network gears, a source told the news agency.

The trails will be conducted in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Gujarat and Hyderabad. Airtel will start testing 5G in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru whereas Jio will test in cities Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat and Hyderabad. It would take a minimum of two months to set up the equipment and then another four months to complete the trials. The whole process would take up approximately six months to complete.

On a related note, Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla, who is also an environmentalist, against the implementation of 5G technology in India. The actress has alleged that she is not against technological advancements but believes that the radiation that is emitted by the 5G towers is extremely harmful to people, plants and animals.

“We are not against the implementation of technological advancements. On the contrary, we enjoy using the latest products that the world of technology has to offer, including in the field of wireless communications. However, whilst using the latter kind of devices, we are in a constant dilemma, because after doing our own research and studies regarding the RF radiation from wire-free gadgets and network cell towers, we have sufficient reason to believe that the radiation is extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people,” Chawla had said.

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/technology/news/story/dot-to-ask-airtel-reliance-jio-and-vodafone-idea-to-start-5g-trials-in-rural-areas-1809499-2021-06-01