Spectrum auctions: What Reliance Jio, Airtel and SpaceX want

Reliance Jio has urged telecom regulator Trai to work out a mandatory schedule for periodic spectrum auctions to ensure that telecom operators do not have to wait long for radiowaves to meet their network requirements. Elon Musk-led SpaceX has also shown interest in promoting broadband in India and pushed for the use of satellites for better connectivity and enhancing efficiency of scarce spectrum available in the country.
The country’s largest telecom operator Jio, in its comments on a consultation paper floated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on promoting broadband connectivity and enhancing broadband speed, said the four-year gap in spectrum auction by the government is inexplicable and huge amount of spectrum remains unutilised and unproductive.
The Mukesh Ambani-led firm had in September too written to Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash questioning the Department of Telecom’s rationale to pause the policy of annual spectrum auctions and said the sale of airwaves should be held at the earliest to meet the demand for data services.