TRAI Can Reduce 5G Spectrum Prices By Upto 40% To Kickstart 5G Services In India

In a move towards attracting competitive bidding for spectrum bands by major telecom companies in India, the telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made some valuable recommendations.

On Monday, the regulator recommended to cut the base price of 5G airwaves, and suggested the introduction of a 40% reduction in the price of 700 MHz band, along with a discount of 36% in the spectrum frequency of 3,300-3,670 MHz bands.

Here’s everything you need to know about the recommendations made by TRAI on the 5G airwaves’ discounts.

TRAI Advises Sharp Cut in Base Price of 5G Spectrum

The telecom regulator has advised on Monday, including all the available spectrum in these existing bands into auction:

• 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, in addition to the new spectrum bands of frequencies  600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz.

As per a statement issued by the regulator, “To provide flexibility to the telecom service providers, block size of 10 MHz for 3300-3670 MHz band and 50 MHz for 24.25-28.5 GHz band recommended. Spectrum to be assigned in a contiguous manner”.

It further added, “The reserve price of spectrum allocation in the case of 30 years should be equal to 1.5 times the reserve price of spectrum allocation for 20 years for the respective band”.

According to insights from PTI, reserve prices across different bands come out to be almost 39% lower than the figure suggested last time.

Why Did TRAI Recommend This?

According to the telecom regulator, slashing the base price of 5G spectrum would attract competitive bidding by major telecom companies in the country, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

It added that injecting liquidity and encouraging investment would turn out to be substantial for the long-term growth and sustainability of the debt-ridden telecom sector.

The telecom service providers should be allowed easy payment options, including part payment with flexibility of moratorium, it added.