'10x faster than 4G': 5G services in India from Oct 12

NEW DELHI: India is preparing to roll out 5G services by October 12, Union Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.

The minister said 5G services will be scaled up after launch and should reach every part of the country in the next two to three years.

"We are planning to roll out 5G services rapidly. The telecom operators are working in that regard and installations are being done. Hopefully, we should be launching 5G services by October 12 and then would further scale up in cities and towns. Our expectations are that 5G should reach every part of the country in the next two to three years. We will ensure that it remains affordable. The industry is focusing on both urban as well as rural areas," he said.

The Centre on Thursday launched the 5G RoW (Right of Way) application form on the Gati Shakti sanchar portal.

The Minister said a common portal for all states has been made to have a central stop-shop for entry of infrastructure applications and approvals.

5G is the fifth-generation mobile network capable of transmitting a large set of data at a very rapid speed-about 10 times faster than 4G.