The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released recommendations on the 'Auction of spectrum in frequency bands identified for IMT/5G'. It recommended a significant cut in the reserve price for the 5G spectrum.
"Telecom Service Providers should be allowed easy payment options including part payment with the flexibility of moratorium," TRAI recommended.
TRAI has recommended slashing the base price of premium 3.3-3.67 GHz airwaves by nearly 36% and cutting the rate of the coveted 700 Mhz spectrum by 40% in a bid to spur India's mobile phone companies to bid aggressively in the upcoming 5G airwaves sale.
With large swathes of spectrum remaining unsold in the last two auctions TRAI recommended to the government for selling airwaves in all existing bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, and new slots of 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz.
The regulator's latest recommendations will set the groundwork for spectrum auctions in 2022, to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23, by private telecom providers.
The market is gearing up for the rollout of 5G services, that will usher in ultra-high speeds and spawn new-age services and business models. "The reserve price of spectrum allocation in case of 30 years should be equal to 1.5 times the reserve price of spectrum allocation for 20 years for the respective band," TRAI said.
