Indian telecom operators, including Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi), have airwaves that are going to expire in February 2024. Thus, they would need to participate again in the spectrum auctions to get the necessary airwaves to continue to offer mobile network services to customers. The telecom department is expected to hold the next round of spectrum auction on January 2024. This way, the telcos will be able to get access to fresh airwaves before their current airwaves expire.
Read More - Next 5G Spectrum Auction in India to See Limited Demand for Airwaves
TRAI Didn’t Give DoT New Reserve Price
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) didn’t get a fresh reserve price for the airwaves meant to be put in the next auctions. Thus, the telecom department has decided to put all the unsold airwaves from last year on nto the next auction. According to an ET report, the airwaves that will be available for the next round of auction are worth Rs 2.65 lakh crore. Earlier, there were plans to add airwaves in new spectrum bands, but that’s not going to happen now.
Read More - TRAI Releases Consultation Paper on Spectrum to be Used for Satcom Services
As per the report, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) declined to give DoT a fresh reserve price for the airwaves. Had TRAI decided to go for a fresh reserve price recommendation, the process would have taken longer and DoT most likely would not be able to hold a spectrum auction in January 2024.
In the previous spectrum auction, airwaves in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz, and 24.25-28.5 GHz bands were offered to the telcos. Reliance Jio was the only telecom operator that bid for the 700 MHz band. Airtel said that it would refrain from going after the 700 MHz band because its price is too steep and on top of that, it wouldn’t serve any additional benefit for the telco.
