The telecom secretary Anshu Prakash has reportedly put on hold the recent allocation of 5G trial spectrum to homegrown semiconductor chipset maker Saankhya Labs and IISc Bengaluru.
As per industry sources, the allocations have been held in abeyance as Saankhya and IISc did not follow the mandated process of seeking such experimental 5G spectrum. Instead of directly applying online to the mandated Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) wing, the two companies reached out to DoT’s Standards, R&D & Innovation (SRI) division.
Subsequently, Saankhya was granted in-principle experimental 5G airwaves in the premium 700/600 MHz bands in Bengaluru to run trials for convergence of broadcast and broadband networks, while IISc was offered trial airwaves (in the 3.5 GHz/2300-2400 MHz bands) for testing in its campus lab.
However, the WPC wing had raised objections to this, prompting the telecom secretary to intervene.
