India’s operators may have tried, in the past, to postpone the financial burden of another spectrum auction, but for government agencies it was essential to accelerate the pace of 5G in the country, while for vendors, the prospect of build-outs in the third largest mobile economy was particularly attractive. Now that the spectrum auction has concluded (see separate item), the suppliers will be hoping for swift pickings, and they may not be disappointed, as reports indicate that all three major MNOs have awarded their first 5G RAN contracts. If these reports are correct, this looks like a win for Ericsson and Nokia, a mixed result for Samsung, and a negative for Chinese vendors, Open RAN challengers and the Indian…