PHD Chamber Requests DOT To Delay 5G Auction By 3-5 Years: Report

Despite so many protests from the telecom sector, the apex decision body DCC has recently approved the spectrum price suggested by the regulator. In fact, the ministry has decided to go for an auction by the end of this financial year. But now, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the ministry to postpone the auctions.

The Chamber wants them to delay the 5G Spectrum Auction, by three to five years so that the ministry will get the exact amount they are looking for. "If the 5G spectrum is auctioned now, the license fees would be frozen for the next 20 years and the government will lose money. Also, the operators will also lose since they will be able to monetize bandwidth only after 3-5 years," said Sandeep Aggarwal, Chairman- Telecom Committee, PHDCCI.

He also suggested that DOT should not ask for a license fee from all operators (Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone-Idea) for two to three years after the spectrum auction.

"The government should also charge reasonable prices for 5G waves to make it sustainable as the present economic scenario is not good," Aggarwal added.
Furthermore, he intimated that the telecom operators have made an investment $150 billion in the new technology and now they are planning to invest more. The companies are likely to invest $100 billion in the near future.

For those who are unaware, the base price of the auction has been decided by the telecom regulator TRAI. TRAI has fixed Rs. 492 crore base price for 3,300-3,600 MHz band. On the other hand, South Korea has fixed Rs. 131 crores per megahertz, which is very less from the price the Indian government is looking for.

Meanwhile, COAI has written a letter to delay the 5G trial, as the industry needs time to submit a proposal. However, this is not the first time that COAI has requested the ministry to delay the auctions.