As per industry sources, Indian telcos have requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to cut-down the starting price of airwaves currently earmarked for 5G by up to 95 per cent to get the necessary financial headroom for investing top dollars in these capital intensive, next-gen wireless broadband networks.
Reliance Jio has stressed that there is a need for a 95 per cent cut in the reserve price of mid-band 5G spectrum from the previously recommended rate, which would amount to around Rs 250 million per unit. Jio has also suggested that the base price of coveted millimeter waves—proposed to be auctioned for the first time in the upcoming sale—be kept at 1/100th of mid-band spectrum price. This view is also backed by Vodafone Idea (Vi).
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has recommended that TRAI’s 5G spectrum prices should be nominal and not more than 10 per cent of prices recommended in 2018, typically, be Rs 500 billion (excluding spectrum costs) to achieve meaningful coverage in India.
Also, Jio and global satellite players have sparred over auctioning of the coveted 28 GHz mmWave spectrum. Jio has urged the TRAI to make 28 GHz spectrum fully available for 5G services. Jio is of the opinion that both key mmWave bands, 26 GHz and 28 GHz, should be auctioned, underlining that over 160 operators across 44 countries have already used these airwaves in their 5G networks.
The latest developments come at a time when the likes of OneWeb, Starlink, Amazon and the Tata-Telesat are readying to enter India’s nascent broadband-from-space market.
