Telcos may push back 5G rollout for 5 years: Report

Telecom companies are likely to push back rollout of 5G network by at least five years due to exorbitant base prices and insufficient spectrum, according to a report by The Economic Times.

“We will push out 5G for at least five years. That’s the operator perspective,” Rajan S Mathews, director-general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), told the newspaper. Mathews said that earlier there was a pricing problem but now the quantum issue has surfaced.

Major private telecom players such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea and gear makers such as Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco, and Ciena are a part of COAI.

“Pricing originally started off as a problem for the industry. With the Rs 492 crore for 1 MHz, most operators said it was not a viable proposition given the debt and international prices,” Mathews said.