IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says auction for 5G spectrum likely to take place in April or May of 2022
Speaking at a media event, the minister stated that India's telecom industry regulation must be benchmarked against the finest in the world.
FollowAccording to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the auction for 5G spectrum will take place in April or May of next year. While the relief measures announced for telecom operators in September this year were the initial set of improvements, the government will conduct several subsequent reforms. Speaking at a media event on Thursday, the minister stated that India's telecom industry regulation must be benchmarked against the finest in the world, adding, "therefore, we will emerge with a series of changes in this, such that the worldwide benchmark of regulations is attained in India."
Vaishnaw claimed that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which regulates auction structure, is conducting consultations on scheduling 5G auctions. He added that they anticipate delivering their findings by February-mid, maybe by February-end, and no later than March. The auctions will take place immediately after that. The remark is significant since the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was hoping to host 5G auctions before the conclusion of the current fiscal year. At this point, providing a firm schedule for the future auction will be difficult because much relies on how long Trai takes to finalise its opinions, the minister stated.
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The government is determined to guarantee that auctions are technology-neutral and provide a constant spectrum for many years to come. As previously reported, the DoT sought Trai for advice on price, quantum, and other modalities relevant to radiowaves in several bands, as it prepared to host a 5G spectrum auction in the coming months. The most recent round of spectrum auctions, which took place in March of this year, resulted in winning bids of more than Rs 77,800 crore for 855.6 MHz of spectrum.
According to Vaishnaw, with fundamental telecom changes detailed in September, the government wants the business to increase investments by 2-4 times, reach out to the disconnected, and enhance service quality.
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