Kolkata: Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash has put on hold the recent allocation of 5G trial spectrum to homegrown semiconductor chipset maker Saankhya Labs and IISc Bengaluru. The development has brought to the fore divergent views of two key wings of the Department of Telecommunications DoT ) on the experimental 5G airwaves allocation process Government and industry insiders said the allocations have been held in abeyance as Saankhya and IISc apparently did not follow the mandated process of seeking such experimental 5G spectrum. The RLO-Chennai was also ordered to grant such trial 5G spectrum to both applicants for six months, extendable upto 1 year. It added that DoT's SRI division was “consulted during the application process for clarifications regarding the procedures”.The IISc spokesman, though, claimed that the institute’s application is under review. “We have obtained a provisional license which was approved and signed by the Deputy Wireless Advisor, WPC …we are awaiting the grant of the final license, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.”At press time, Saankhya Labs did not reply to ET’s queries.

Source: Economic Times May 11, 2021 09:09 UTC