The Indian government plans to auction around 3,000MHz worth of spectrum during the next round of allocations, but the industry is calling for the auction to be delayed until the consolidation reshaping the market is complete.
The government is seeking recommendations from regulator Trai on the reserve price for auction in the 700-MHz, 800-MHz, 900-MHz, 1800-MHz, 2100-MHz, 2300-MHz, 2500-MHz, 3300 to 3400-MHz and 3400 to 3600-MHz bands, BGR India reported.
This would be India's largest ever spectrum auction, exceeding even the 2,354.55 MHz of spectrum put up for sale during the previous auction in 2016 – a process which left more than 60% of the airwaves put on the block unsold.
According to telecoms minister Manoj Sinha, some of the spectrum on the block and other frequency bands that have already been auctioned will be able to be utilized for the deployment of 5G once the standardization process is completed.
But the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry body representing India's GSM operators, has urged the government to put off any auction of 5G spectrum until the 2019-20 financial year.
The Economic Times quotes COAI director general Rajan Mathews as stating that the government must not rush into any spectrum auction this year while the industry is still struggling with the financial stress caused by debts accrued by previous spectrum allocations and the entry into the market of disruptive new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm.
The auction should only be held once all consolidation activities have been announced and completed, he said.
Due to the financial pressure, the industry is currently consolidating into three major private players – Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and the entity to be created through the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.
Delaying the auction would also have the benefit of allowing better use cases and applications for 5G to be created as the still emerging 5G ecosystem is further developed, Mathews said.