Dismissing claims about 5G spectrum trials fuelling the spread of Covid-19 in India on various social media platforms, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) in a media statement asked people to refrain from such ‘absolutely false’ narrative build on various platforms.
“We would like to clarify that these rumours are absolutely false…we urge people not to fall for such baseless misinformation,” S P Kochhar, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in a statement.
The clarification by the top body looks to disarray the misinformation linked to high-speed 5G technology and push telcos to gear up for the much-awaited technical trials in India.
Kochhar in his statement also appealed to citizens “to beware of these fake messages,” calling on them to fight “this menace of misinformation.” The COAI represents India’s big 3 telcos, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi).
According to Kochhar, there was no correlation between 5G technology and Covid 19. “There are several countries using 5G technology and no such side effects of this 5G technology has been reported till now,” he said.
Earlier this week the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) gave its go-ahead to the much-delayed 5G trials. While blocking the entry of Chinese technology giants in the 5G trials, DoT has permitted only five telecom service providers (TSPs), including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Vodafone Idea and MTNL, to conduct 5G trials in India.
Besides blocking the Chinese tech company, the department has also ensured that no Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer participates in the trial. The selected telecom service providers will only tie-up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers including Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT.
Trials will initially be for six months. Telcos are being given experimental airwaves in the mid-band (3.2-3.67 Ghz), 800 Mhz, in the millimetre wave (26-28 Ghz) and the 700 Mhz bands for these trials.
