5G Spectrum Prices Should be Kept Reasonable for Telecom Operators: IAFI

A non-profit telecom industry association, ITU-APT Foundation of India or IAFI in a statement has recommended that the prices of the 5G spectrum whether it is below 6 GHz band or millimetre-wave (mmWave) bands above 24 GHz, should be kept reasonable for telecom operators. It also recommended that the prices of the 5G spectrum for telecom operators should be lesser in comparison to other parts of the globe. The recommendation from IAFI came in with its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s consultation paper on spectrum auction for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)/5G.

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The Recommendation from IAFI to TRAI

According to a report from ET Telecom, in the submission, IAFI talked about the 700 MHz band and recommended that the reserve price for 700 MHz should be Rs 500 crores for the nationwide spectrum per MHz whereas for C-band it should be Rs 100 crores. It also suggested that the reserved price for the mmWave band should be Rs 80 crores per 10 MHz nationwide spectrum. IAFI went on to stress in its submission on the previously failed auctions of 700 MHz frequencies. The auction held in February 2021 for 700 MHz witnessed the reserve price set at about $ 1.89 per MHz per POP (adjusted for PPP). This reserve price was about 34 times more than the internationally set reserved price of $ 0.05 and higher than the mean winning bid price of the entire globe – $ 0.54 as well.