Trai Will Stick to its Recommended Price for 5G Spectrum: RS Sharma

Telecom regulator Trai will stick to its recommended price for spectrum including that for 5G services, its Chairman R S Sharma said after leading telecom operators complained about high base prices for the sale of frequencies. Trai Chairman R S Sharma said that the regulator, however, has recommended various measures to lower levies on the sector to help improve the financial health of stressed operators. “We have given reserve price recommendation and we stand by that. In fact, we have reduced prices of 700 MHz band,” Sharma told reporters of PTI. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have said that spectrum prices for proposed auction are too high and companies will be unable to participate if radio waves are sold at prices recommended by Trai. The auction is key to start the rollout of 5G services.

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Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Tuesday said that the government needs to extend support to the industry for early 5G rollout by pricing spectrum at a reasonable level.

“This is for the government to basically figure out when to auction. It is not our domain,” Sharma said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended an auction of about 8,644 MHz of telecom frequencies, including those for 5G services, at an estimated total base price of Rs 4.9 lakh crore.

Sharma said that the Department of Telecom has not asked any major question around spectrum pricing. “I think the government has also sent us one query about some arithmetical layer that has been relied on. Very minor clerical. It was not about pricing but about a small amount of spectrum available in Tamil Nadu. That we have responded. Now there is no question,” Sharma said.