The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended lowering the base price for major 5G spectrum airwaves by 35 to 40%, as well as putting up for auction all available spectrum in the current bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, as well as the newer frequency bands of 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz, and 24.25-28.5 GHz.
The telecom regulatory board recommended that the base price for the prime 5G band of 3300-3670 MHz be preserved at Rs 317 crore per MHz in its recommendations for the 5G spectrum auction, which is 35% lesser than the base price of Rs 492 crore per MHz announced in 2018. Similarly, Trai recommends a price of Rs 3,297 crore for the 700 MHz band, which is over 40% less than the pricing proposed by the regulators in 2018.
What Telcos are demanding?
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) which represents the Telcos including Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, however, has expressed dissatisfaction with Trai's 5G recommendations, calling the regulator's proposed spectrum pricing "extremely costly."
Given the government's recent telecom reforms, COAI claims that these proposals are "one step backwards rather than forward" in developing a digitally connected India. The COAI said that the industry had requested a 90% decrease in pricing and that only a 35-40% reduction in prices "is deeply disappointing."
In an official statement, COAI said, "If one were to look at the pan-India price of 3.5 GHz spectrum, then we are back to square one with effectively no change and will nullify the relief provided by the Union cabinet in the year 2021. This defies logic and calls for lower spectrum prices by the industry and intelligentsia to keep spectrum prices lower to enable the industry in aggressive network rollouts that will require massive investments."
