The Department of Telecom (DoT) will seek TRAI’s recommendations on pricing and other modalities for 5G spectrum bands of 24.75-27.25 GHz, and wants to put this new spectrum up for auction next year, PTI reported.

This new 5G spectrum is separate from the Rs 5.22 lakh crore spectrum sale plan approved by the Digital Communications Commission on December 20. India aims to sell 8,300 MHz of airwaves across 22 circles March-April 2020 targeting Rs 5.22 lakh crore.

Telecom industry body GSMA earlier said mmWave 5G will not only provide consumers with ultra-fast mobile broadband services including immersive entertainment, but will stimulate a host of applications. These innovations will include enhanced remote healthcare and education, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality, and many others.

The early lead being established in 5G in the Asia Pacific and Americas regions are expected to generate the greatest share of GDP attributed to mmWave 5G, at $212 billion and $190 billion respectively. Europe is forecast to have the highest percentage of GDP growth attributable to mmWave of any region, with 2.9 percent.

GSMA said 28 GHz is also emerging as an important mmWave band for realising the ultra-high-speed vision for 5G. Commercial services using this band have already been launched in the US and it will also be used for mmWave 5G in countries such as South Korea, Japan, India and Canada.

Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) has been urging India government to seek TRAI’s views on 26 GHz band. 24.75-27.25 GHz, which is also known as millimetre-wave bands, is used by telecoms in the United States.

“We request an early referral from DoT to TRAI to make a recommendation for including the 26 GHz band for the planned spectrum auction in conjunction with other bands as this is imperative and will have a significant bearing on realising the deployment of 5G in India,” COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said in a year-end note recently.