Telecom Operators To Get The Option Of Buying Spectrum For 20 Years In Upcoming 5G Airwaves Auction: Report

The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has approved the option of granting spectrum to telecom operators for a period of 20 years in the upcoming 5G auction.

The moves comes after the central government’s previous announcement in September 2021 that the spectrum would be given for 30 years.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had then left it to the centre to take a final call on the tenure of the spectrum lease, Financial Express reports.

A standing committee of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had proposed allowing telecom firms to buy spectrum for 20 years as obtaining airwaves for 30 years was turning out to be an expensive alternative.

TRAI had recommended that the reserve price of the 30-year-period would be 1.5 times of the same for the 20-year-period.

The DCC reportedly felt that TRAI had cut down the 5G spectrum prices by 36 per cent already and the cost reduction was enough since the spectrum will be given for 20 years.

Further, the DCC, in its meeting on Tuesday, also approved the reserve price as suggested by TRAI.

Now, the DoT will send its proposals to the Union Cabinet and the latter will take a decision on any further reduction in the reserve price.

After Cabinet's approval, the DoT will begin working on the notice inviting application (NIA) and will release it by 25 May. This document will contain all the formal guidelines of the entire auction process. The auction usually takes place 54 days after the release of the NIA.