Telecom dept may approach Trai again for view on spectrum recommendations

The department of telecommunications (DoT) may again approach the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for reviewing its recommendations on the quantum and pricing of spectrum to be offered in the airwave auctions, scheduled for the current financial year (2019-20).

Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has asked the Centre to reserve the 100 MHz quantity of 5G spectrum. The company, which expects to roll out its 4G services by the end of 2020, wants the airwaves to be reserved for later use.

In October, the regulator suggested that DoT give 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band to the railways for its captive use to offer services like public safety and security services, but not allow it to use the airwaves for commercial purposes.

“If these two aspects are taken into account, there won’t be enough spectrum in the 5G band and the 700 MHz to be offered for auctions,” an official told Business Standard.

He added that companies have already expressed their reservation for the proposed 5G auctions, citing financial concerns.

Experts also feel that the telecom industry is not ready for an auction and the government can instead explore other ways of making available the airwaves to companies.

“The government should think out-of-the-box, as the sector is in a dire situation. It is a challenge to hold auctions in the current scenario,” said Hemant Joshi, partner for technology, media and telecom leader, Deloitte India.

All the three private telecom service providers —Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio — have expressed their reservation in bidding for the proposed 5G spectrum as the price was “too high”.

These companies had said that the reserve price for 5G spectrum and the premium 700 MHz was high compared to international prices. The 700 MHz spectrum is considered premium because of its better penetration indoors.

The railways had urged the telecom department to reserve 15 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band for it, and 10 MHz be allocated free of cost.

The government then requested Trai to provide its recommendations on administrative allotment of spectrum to the railways and the quantum, price and appropriate frequency band for it.

The 700 MHz spectrum went unsold in the 2016 auctions as the operators felt that the base price was too high. Trai, in its recommendations for the upcoming auctions, reduced the price of this spectrum by 40 per cent to Rs 6,568 crore per MHz all-India from Rs 11,485 crore in 2016.