Telcos ask govt to auction E&V spectrum bands instead of de-licensing them

Mobile service providers on Monday asked the Union government to allocate E&V bands of radiowaves via an auction process on an immediate basis instead of de-licensing them.

De-licensing of these bands will “tilt the level playing field” against licensed telecom service providers (TSPs) since they are burdened with various costs like spectrum acquisition, license fee, spectrum usage charge and right of way, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio are part of the association.

“With de-licensing of such important spectrum bands, mobile broadband backhaul would be severely constrained. In addition, neither the roll out obligation can be imposed, nor the operator will be keen on seeking returns on investment as they are not paying any amount for this spectrum. Therefore, efficient use of E & V band cannot be guaranteed,” COAI Director General S P Kocchar said in a letter to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

“This (de-licensing) will prevent TSPs from competing effectively with operators providing services using unlicensed spectrum or acquired through light touch regulation as recommended by TRAI,” COAI said.

Spectrum in E&V bands can be utilised for both high-capacity access spectrum for voice and data services as well as backhaul link spectrum.

Airwaves in the E band, which falls between 71-76 GHz and 81-86 Ghz, and V band, between 57-64 GHz, can transmit data with a speed of around 1,000 megabit per second.

These spectrum bands are mostly used as backhaul, which essentially means they connect the core of a telecom network to the towers to transmit data.