‘Disappointed’: Telecom industry body on TRAI’s recommendations on 5G spectrum

The top telecom industry, body, COAI on Tuesday said it was disappointed by the regulator’s recommendations for the auction of 5G spectrum bands. On Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended about a 39 per cent reduction in the reserve or floor price for the sale of spectrum for mobile services, including the latest 5G offering, as it looked to match revenue expectations with the industry’s paying capacity, according to news agency PTI.With large swathes of spectrum remaining unsold in the last two auctions, the regulator 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.It has suggested a lower reserve price for all bands, compared to the prices proposed in the previous recommendations in 2018.In a 20-year scenario, the floor price in the 700 MHz band has been cut by 40 per cent to ₹3,927 crore per MHz for a pan-India spectrum, while the same in 800 MHz has been lowered by 22 per cent to ₹3,620 crore per MHz, pan-India.For the prime 5G frequency of 3300-3670 MHz band, the all-India reserve price adds up to ₹317 crore per MHz, which is over 35 per cent lower than the ₹492 crore/MHz suggested by the TRAI last time around.All in all, the TRAI mooted nearly 39 per cent lower base price across all bands referred to it compared to the last time.

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