DoT: no new frequency bands approved for next spectrum auction

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made a decision on the country’s next multi-band 5G mobile spectrum auction scheduled for January 2024, apparently scrapping previous proposals to add any new frequency bands, and keeping the same base prices and conditions as the previous 5G auction concluded in August 2022, the Economic Times reported. Unallocated frequencies in bands including 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz are earmarked for sale in January with an approximate total value of INR2.65 trillion (USD31.83 billion), although the actual level of bidding interest from mobile operators is currently unclear. The report states that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has declined to provide base bidding prices for any new frequency bands or fresh reserve prices for any of the spectrum bands already in use by cellcos.

The DoT had previously pushed for new bands to be offered via the auction including 37GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) frequencies as well as the 3.7GHz-4.2GHz band, the L-band (1427MHz-1518MHz) and the 470MHz-582MHz band.

India’s multi-band 5G spectrum auction of summer 2022 concluded with Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Adani Data Networks spending a total of INR1.5 trillion on frequencies in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands. The next auction is scheduled near to the expiration dates of certain Airtel and Vi licences in circles such as West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Odisha.