India’s Department of Telecommunications allowed telecom operators to conduct trials for fifth-generation networks for a period of six months including two months for procuring and setting up equipment. It added that the companies Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and MTNL will work with Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia and state-owned technology company C-Dot. Jio Platforms will also be allowed to use homegrown technology.
The Department will make available experimental spectrum in various bands, including mid-band (3.2GHz – 3.67GHz), mmWave (24.25GHz to 28.5GHz) and 700GHz. Operators may use their existing spectrum as well.
Each operator will test 5G phones and devices as also applications such as tele-medicine, tele-education, augmented or virtual reality, and drone-based agricultural monitoring. The Department required testing in rural and semi-urban settings, in addition to urban areas so that the benefit of 5G technology is not confined only to cities.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
