New Delhi: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday expressed deep disappointment over the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 5G, according to a report in PTI.
The industry body has termed the spectrum pricing suggested by the regulator as “very high”.
In a statement, COAI said, in view of the recent reforms for the telecom sector announced by the government, these recommendations are “a step back from the front” towards building a digitally connected India.
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COAI is an apex industry body and its members include Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea. The spectrum pricing recommended by TRAI is very high.
“During the consultation process, the industry had made extensive arguments based on global research and benchmarks for significant reduction in spectrum prices. The industry recommended 90 per cent lower price, and only 35-40 per cent cut in prices, so it is extremely disappointing,” the association said.
TRAI on Monday recommended a 35 per cent cut in the reserve price for prime 5G spectrum frequency in the 3300-3670 MHz band at Rs 317 crore per MHz.
On Monday, TRAI said all available spectrum in the existing bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz and new spectrum bands of 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25- 28.5 GHz will be auctioned.
TRAI in a statement said, “In order to provide flexibility to the telecom service providers, a block size of 10 MHz for the 3300-3670 MHz band and 50 MHz for the 24.25-28.5 GHz band has been recommended.” manner to be assigned.”
Overall, the reserve price in various bands is around 39 per cent lower than last time, sources said.