High 5G spectrum prices may push players up against the wall: COAI DG

New Delhi: Apex telecom industry body COAI has asserted that spectrum pricing should be kept conducive to market conditions as 5G entails upfront capital investments with monetisation spread over a long-haul, and pricing radiowaves high will only push the players up against the wall.

The stage is set for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come out with its recommendations on 5G spectrum pricing and other modalities for upcoming auctions, and the announcement from the sector watchdog is expected anytime now. Norms will also be worked out for new frequencies such as 526-698 MHz and millimetre band, that is 24.25 - 28.5 GHz, in addition to bands such as 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz. The auction can be conducted within 2-2.5 months of regulator coming out with spectrum recommendations, which would put the mega-event in the ballpark of June timeframe, a telecom department source said.

The industry has been aggressively pitching for a drastic 80-90 per cent cut in prices of spectrum for next-generation services, which will usher in ultra high-speeds and spawn new-age services and business models. Advocating lower prices for spectrum, COAI Director General, SP Kochhar said: "5G does not have any use cases which can be monetised in a quarter, so it is going to be a long-haul. At the same time, the capital investments have to be made in a particular period of time." It is pertinent to mention here that last time around, TRAI had suggested Rs 492 crore per MHz for spectrum in prime 5G band of 3300-3600 MHz, which meant that a mobile operator going for 100 MHz needed to shell out a whopping Rs 49,200 crore for all-India spectrum.

However, frequencies in this band were not put up for auction in the previous round, as the frequency range could not be vacated in time and the base price of the radiowaves in the spectrum band was seen to be very expensive for 5G services.