5G auction

In News: The Union Cabinet has approved the auction of airwaves capable of offering fifth generation, or 5G

• Taking the first step towards rolling out 5G services, the government has invited bid applications for spectrum auctions starting in July after it proposal to auction over 72,000 megahertz (MHz), or 72 GHz, of airwaves with a validity period of 20 years.
• The auction will be held for spectrum in the frequencies of 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz
• It is expected that the Mid and High band spectrum will be utilised by telecom service providers to roll out 5G technology-based services capable of providing speed and capacities which would be about 10 times higher than what is possible through the current 4G services

5^th generation

• 5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
• It enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.
• Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G has been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps

Different Bands of 5G:

• 5G mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
• Low Band Spectrum: In terms of coverage and speed of Internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps
• Mid Band Spectrum: It offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
• This band may be used by industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks that can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
• High Band Spectrum: It offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength

Source: The Hindu,  Indian Express