The Digital Communication Commission (DCC) on Friday has approved the spectrum auctions to be held in March/April and added that there is no change in the reserve pricing of the radiowaves decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The bids for the spectrum auctioneer will be opened on January 13, Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) told reporters here post the meeting adding that there will be a total 8,300 MHz spectrum to be put in auction amounting to ₹5.23 lakh crore (of base price).
One of the important changes in the upcoming auction is that the government will charge upfront payment of 10 per cent for the sub-gigahertz instead of 25 per cent earlier, and for the gigahertz and above frequencies it will be 20 per cent instead of 50 per cent earlier.
The rest of the amount can be paid in 16 instalments over the next 20 years after a moratorium of two years. The available spectrum will be allocated in the next 30 days of the upfront payment to the operators, Prakash said.
Prakash said that out of the 8,300 MHz spectrum put on the auctions, 6,050 MHz would be available for 5G.
“We expect good participation in the upcoming auctions with a lot of spectrum available (few got vacated as licences got expired) and with good competition,” he added.
The spectrum to be auctioned include 700 MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz and 3300-3600 MHz.
Source: The Hindu
