2 months ago
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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) connected Tuesday (February 24, 2026) recommended auctioning the full disposable radiowave spectrum portion proposing little introduction barriers for caller players and a azygous 35% spectrum headdress to safeguard contention successful the telecom sector.
While TRAI has not officially disclosed the combined basal terms of the full spectrum connected offer, arsenic per manufacture calculations, if each the spectrum connected connection crossed bands (excluding 600 MHz) is sold, the radiowaves could fetch astir ₹81,000 crore astatine the reserve price.
While urging the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to reclaim spectrum held by telecom companies undergoing insolvency, TRAI projected halving the nett worthy criteria for caller entrants from ₹100 crore to ₹50 crore per licensed work country (and from ₹50 crore to ₹25 crore for Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast) to promote much participation.
All disposable spectrum, crossed 9 frequence bands, should beryllium enactment to auction successful the forthcoming bidding, the telecom regulator recommended.
While the reserve oregon basal terms is little than 2022 auctions for astir LSA (Licensed Shared Access) and set combinations, successful a fewer cases, it is higher than the erstwhile sale.
Industry sources said the basal terms for Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast circles had been lowered compared to the erstwhile auction. They besides noted that, successful enactment with norms, the reserve terms for bands that remained unsold earlier had been fixed astatine 60% of the past discovered price.
‘Reclaim spectrum’
In its proposal that spans the modalities for spectrum auctions, specified arsenic applicable reserve price, set plan, artifact size, and associated conditions for spectrum bids, TRAI said DoT should instantly reclaim spectrum held by providers undergoing insolvency and see those airwaves successful the upcoming auction.
The spectrum, successful the frequence bands identified for IMT, should beryllium auctioned connected Telecom Circle/ Metro Area ground with a validity play of 20 years. For information successful the forthcoming spectrum auction, the eligibility conditions, arsenic prescribed successful Notice Inviting Application 2024 oregon the 2024 bid document, should beryllium continued for each frequence bands, according to the regulator.
A azygous spectrum headdress of 35% has been recommended crossed low, mid and high-frequency bands — including 600 MHz, sub-1 GHz bands, 1800-2500 MHz bands, 3300 MHz, 26 GHz and 37-40 GHz — with nary request for operators already exceeding the headdress to surrender existing holdings.
"The full disposable spectrum successful the 600 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz frequence bands should beryllium enactment to auction successful the forthcoming auction," TRAI said.
The rollout obligations for the existing frequence bands, that is, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2SOO MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands, should beryllium the aforesaid arsenic those prescribed for respective frequence bands successful the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) 2024.
To incentivise the 600 MHz band, the regulator has suggested a longer validity of 24 years (instead of 20), a four-year moratorium connected payments, and a four-year hold successful rollout obligations.
"While the spectrum complaint whitethorn beryllium levied for a play of 20 years, the validity play of the spectrum should beryllium accrued by 4 years, that is, the accustomed 20 years positive 4 years," it suggested.
The rollout obligations for the spectrum successful the 600 MHz set should beryllium the aforesaid arsenic those applicable to different sub-1 GHz bands. However, it should beryllium delayed by 4 years; that is, nary rollout obligations for the archetypal 4 years, and the applicable rollout obligations should statesman thereafter.
In summation to the upfront outgo option, an further outgo enactment should beryllium made disposable for the spectrum successful the 600 MHz band, it said, outlining the outgo program with a moratorium.
The precocious 6 GHz set (6425-7125 MHz) is to beryllium reserved for IMT (mobile services), but volition not beryllium auctioned yet; instead, it volition acquisition method trials to guarantee nary interference with outer stations.
"The disposable frequence ranges successful the 6 GHz (upper) band, viz. 6425-6725 MHz and 7025-7125 MHz should not beryllium enactment to auction successful the forthcoming auction. The contented of auctioning the spectrum successful the 6 GHz (upper) set should beryllium reexamined aft considering the result of WRC-27," TRAI said.
The regulator said the telecom section mightiness transportation retired a program (involving each TSPs) to behaviour trials astir each 34 locations wherever outer uplink stations were located successful the applicable frequencies (in-band and adjacent frequencies) to find the request of the keepout region of IMT basal stations from outer uplink stations.
"The result of the trials whitethorn besides beryllium shared with TRAI," the regulator said.
To span the integer divide, the regulator has projected a caller "coverage-for-discount" benignant of strategy that allows palmy bidders to offset up to 10% of their spectrum auction costs by expanding work into "dead zones".
Under this plan, telecom operators tin opt for a terms simplification successful speech for deploying caller 4G oregon 5G basal stations successful government-identified "coverage holes" wrong 1 year.
To guarantee these distant areas payment from maximum connectivity, TRAI has mandated that immoderate towers built nether this inducement indispensable beryllium shared with competing telcos astatine a just price, ensuring that residents successful antecedently unserved regions summation entree to aggregate web providers.
Outlining measures to fortify competition, TRAI projected reconsideration of a abstracted wholesale Access Network Provider authorisation, expedited instauration of caller infrastructure-related licences, and mounting speech definite TDD (Time Division Duplex) spectrum for ISPs, M2M providers and captive networks.
A caller valuation workout for spectrum has been projected each 3 years, with indexed auction-determined prices to usher interim auctions.
The recommendations pave the mode for the adjacent large spectrum sale, captious for expanding 5G networks and deepening integer connectivity crossed India.
