Trai‘s white paper underlines the importance of “spectrum harmonisation” to successfully ring in high speed 5G wireless broadband services in India.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has raised concern that the telecom department’s delay in auctioning 5G spectrum in the 3300-3600 Mhz bands will increase costs for phone companies planning to roll out 5G networks in the country.
Telecom service providers are likely to initially incur an additional investment while launching 5G services on account of spectrum cost, the sector regulator said in its 5G white paper released on Friday.
According to ET, Trai in its airwaves pricing suggestions to DoT for the next sale had set ₹492 crore per unit as the starting price for auctioning 5G airwaves in the 3300-3600 MHz bands. But it had not specified a timeline for the next sale.
The next spectrum auction is likely to be held only after August this year, and various media reports have suggested that the DoT may use a new pricing methodology to lower prices of all airwave bands.
Adequate spectrum availability critical to realise the potential of 5G in India
Trai, in its white paper, noted that enough spectrum in the appropriate frequency bands is crucial to realise the 5G vision in India. It also said that timely deployment of 5G “is essential for achieving the objectives” envisaged in the new telecom policy – National Digital Communications Policy 2018 – that was approved by the Cabinet last September.
The telecom regulator suggested making “millimetre wave spectrum available” to address the possible traffic growth, particularly in 4G and 5G networks, which it said, “would be difficult to manage through existing microwave backhauls.”
Trai also recommended abolishing any potential “regulatory or licensing barriers” in the path of adopting newer and better technologies.
Trai‘s white paper also underlined the importance of “spectrum harmonisation” to successfully ring in high speed 5G wireless broadband services in India.
