5G in India: DoT to seek Trai’s views on new spectrum; wants sale of additional bands in 2020

The Department of Telecom will soon seek sector regulator Trai’s recommendations on pricing and other modalities for coveted 5G bands of 24.75-27.25 GHz, and wants to put this new spectrum up for auction sometime next year, sources said. This new 5G chunk is separate from the Rs 5.22 lakh crore spectrum sale plan approved by the Digital Communications Commission on December 20, under which 8,300 MHz of airwaves across 22 circles are set to be put on the block in March-April 2020.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) sources said that the government will soon approach the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for its recommendations on ‘millimetre wave bands’ of 24.75-27.25 GHz, the coveted bands for 5G. DoT plans to approach the regulator in January for views on these additional 5G bands, sources stated.