India's regulator recommends auction of mmWave spectrum for 5G services

　　India's telecommunications regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has come up with recommendations for auctioning of millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G services.

　　TRAI recommends auctioning around 3,000MHz of spectrum in the 37-37.5GHz band, including 100MHz of spectrum for all 23 circles (service areas). It recommends a validity period of 20 years for this spectrum. However, it is not clear when the next round of the 5G auction will be held.

　　"The availability of frequency spectrum in 37-37.5 GHz and 37.5-40 GHz frequency ranges to telecom service providers will enable setting up of high-capacity, low-latency communication networks for advanced use cases," says the statement issued by TRAI.

　　TRAI recommends a reserve price of 59.8 million Indian rupees (US$680,000) per MHz, which would make the entire 37-37.5GHz spectrum worth INR179.4 billion ($2.4 billion). It has recommended the highest reserve price of INR7.6 million ($80,000 million) per MHz for the Delhi circle, followed by INR6.7 million ($70,000) per MHz for Mumbai and INR5.4 million ($60,000) per MHz for Maharashtra.

　　It also recommended that, apart from service providers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service providers should also be permitted to participate in the auction. TRAI recommends setting the spectrum cap for 37-40GHz band at 40% of the total spectrum available for auction. Additionally, this spectrum should not be merged with the 26GHz band for spectrum capping.

　　Spectrum in the 26GHz band was put up for auction for the first time in August 2022. India's top service providers, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, acquired 26GHz spectrum in all 22 circles. On the other hand, Vodafone Idea acquired 26GHz spectrum in 16 circles and Adani Group purchased 400MHz spectrum in the 26GHz band in the same auction. However, the telcos ignored the 26GHz spectrum in the last auction in July-August 2024.

　　TRAI recommended against auctioning spectrum in the 42.5-43.5GHz frequency band because of the lack of ecosystem for this band. "Owing to the non- availability of the device ecosystem in the 42.5-43.5 GHz frequency range, it will be prudent that the frequency range 42.5-43.5 GHz is not put to auction in the forthcoming spectrum auction," the press release says.