GSMA urges India to keep extra spectrum in 800, 900, 1800 and 2100MHz before auction

GSMA has urged the India government to keep spectrum in 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz spectrum bands before the telecom spectrum auction next year.

ALSO READ: TRAI reserve price for 1800 MHz and 900 MHz spectrum auction announced

TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) last week demanded the India government should conduct spectrum after ensuring enough spectrum in these key spectrum bands.

ALSO READ: Why spectrum auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands will hit roadblock

Next year’s spectrum auction is crucial for telecom operators such as Vodafone India, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular.

Morten K Sorby, CEO of Uninor, a subsidiary of Telenor, last week said the reserve price set by telecom regulator TRAI for 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum is extremely high.

Tom Phillips, chief regulatory officer, GSMA, said: “If handled badly, the spectrum auction can have damaging consequences. Failure of the existing operators to retain their current spectrum, which is due to be relicensed as part of the auction process, would jeopardize their businesses.”

GSMA

GSMA in a statement said that it supports the auction plans announced by TRAI. But there should be additional spectrum available prior to the auction.

The next round of auctions should only be conducted once there is sufficient spectrum available for mobile in all key spectrum bands, namely 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz.

India Government should accelerate the migration of non-mobile users from the 2100MHz band, in particular the defense industry in order to use for 3G mobile communications.

GSMA did not ask for lowering the reserve price recommended by TRAI.

According to TRAI, the base price for 1800 MHz spectrum should be Rs 2,138 crore per MHz, while it would be Rs 3,004 crore per MHz for 900 MHz band in 18 circles.

It said the recent auction conducted by the Brazilian government failed to secure bidders for all the bands offered.

By 2017, around 250 million of 1.1 billion of India’s mobile connections are estimated to be either 3G or 4G.

Baburajan K
[email protected]