The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to auction spectrum in the E and V bands. The E and V bands have the potential to provide high-speed broadband services especially in remote areas and for better in-building coverage. To this end, the DoT is expected to send a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to seek stakeholders’ comments to finalise pricing and other allocation methodologies to telecom operators and technology firms.
The DoT was considering the option to allocate the E-band spectrum administratively to all the companies. However, in response to the telecom firms’ demand for auctioning of all the spectrum, the decision has been taken to auction E and V bands as well.
The spectrum in the E (71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz) and V (57-64 GHz) bands has the potential to provide high-speed broadband services, especially in rural and remote areas. The E band can be used by mobile operators as a backhaul where fibre is not available.
The E and V bands is expected to be primarily used as a backhaul for 5G services. The DoT feels that with right pricing, it will be better for telecom operators to buy the spectrum in auction. Earlier, in 2014 recommendations, TRAI had said that both the E and V bands should be opened with light-touch regulation and allotment should be on a link to link basis. It had further said that the E band carrier should be charged at Rs 10,000 per annum per carrier of 250 MHz and that there should be an initial promotional discount of 50 per cent for three years from the date of allocation of the first carrier in this band. In case of the V band carriers, it had said the charges should be Rs 1,000 per annum per carrier of 50 MHz each. TRAI had also said that prices would be reviewed after five years based on deployment and usage.
