TRAI Proposes 3000 MHz mmWave Spectrum Auction for 5G Boost

CIOTechOutlook Team | Wednesday, 05 February 2025, 04:53 IST

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Telecom operators are anticipated to acquire additional 5G spectrum shortly, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed the auction of approximately 3000 MHz airwaves in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band.

With a reserve price of Rs 5.98 crore for each MHz, the spectrum has a value of Rs 17,940 crore. The spectrum is more than 14% less expensive at reserve price compared to the 26 GHz band, which is also a mmWave band and was auctioned in 2022. In the 2024 auction, the 26 GHz band received no bids because of an insufficient device ecosystem.

Experts believe that the spectrum in the ranges of 37-37.5 GHz and 37.5-40 GHz has a significantly better ecosystem, mainly because the US has already launched 5G services in that band.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will decide when to hold the upcoming auction.

Trai has suggested that besides mobile operators, internet service providers (Category 'A' and Category 'B') and M2M service providers (Category 'A' and Category 'B') under the unified license, should also be allowed to take part in the forthcoming auction.

In August 2023, the DoT requested Trai's recommendations regarding pricing and other methods for the auction of various bands, including those auctioned in 2022 and new bands 37-37.5 GHz, 37.5-40 GHz, and 42.5-43.5 GHz.

The regulator subsequently instructed DoT to consider its 2022 recommendations for the auction of current spectrum as the process for establishing pricing for the new bands began in April 2024. In June 2024, the DoT auctioned off the available spectrum following the 2022 Trai recommendations and obtained Rs 11,340 crore by selling 141.4 MHz of spectrum distributed across four bands.

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