DoT to seek Trai's views on 5G; considers spectrum auction in 2020

This new 5G chunk is separate from the Rs 5.22 trillion spectrum sale plan approved by the Digital Communications Commission on Dec 20

The Department of Telecom will soon seek sector regulator Trai's recommendations on pricing and other modalities for coveted 5G bands of 24.75-27.25 GHz, and wants to put this new spectrum up for auction sometime next year, sources said.

This new 5G chunk is separate from the Rs 5.22 trillion spectrum sale plan approved by the Digital Communications Commission on December 20, under which 8,300 MHz of airwaves across 22 circles are set to be put on block in March-April 2020.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) sources said that the government will soon approach Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for its recommendations on 'millimeter wave bands' of 24.75-27.25 GHz, coveted bands for 5G.

DoT plans to approach the regulator in January for views on these additional 5G bands, sources stated.

Although DoT wants these bands to be put for sale earlier in the year, there are specific timelines involved in Trai reference and responses, they said.

That said, DoT wants to put this additional spectrum belonging to new 5G bands for auction sometime during 2020, they noted.

It may be recalled that industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has been urging the government to seek Trai's views on 26 GHz band.

"We request an early referral from DoT to Trai to make a recommendation for including the 26 GHz band for the planned spectrum auction in conjunction with other bands as this is imperative and will have a significant bearing on realising the deployment of 5G in India," COAI Director General, Rajan Mathews had said in a year end note recently.