MillenniumPost
Business

Centre has no plans to reduce price for 5G spectrum: Prasad

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said it has no plans to reduce prices of 5G spectrum for the upcoming auction.

Industry bodies and telecom operators have been demanding a revision in the proposed base price for 5G spectrum auction, claiming that the rate was too high.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Lok Sabha that the base price for the next round of auction has been recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on August 1, 2018, and the regulator reaffirmed the same price on July 8, 2019 in response to reference sent by the Department of Telecom.

In response to member Dushyant Singh's question that if the government was planning to reduce the base-price for 5G spectrum, Prasad said, "No, Sir".

The telecom minister while speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2019 last month had said that the spectrum auctions will be done this financial year and "undertaking some reforms in spectrum pricing as well."

The industry bodies and telecom operators individually have also pointed out that the spectrum price recommended by the Trai for next round of auction is too high.

"The value of unsold spectrum as on date as per valuation by Trai in its recommendations on Auction of Spectrum in 700 MHz, 800MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3400 MHz, 3400-3600MHz Bands dated August 1, 2018 is Rs 4.9 lakh crores," Prasad said.

Next Story
Share it