World Telecom Day: Timely spectrum assignment necessary for rapid 5G deployment, says GSMA’s Mats Granryd

NEW DELHI: The Indian government should assign spectrum timely for both access and backhaul for rapid and sustainable deployment of the fifth-generation or 5G networks, a top GSM Association (GSMA) executive said on Monday, adding that it will help in achieving the vision of a ‘Digital India’.

“Spectrum is a valuable and scarce public asset best used for widespread high-quality networks. We recommend setting reserve prices with spectrum at affordable levels to incentivize investment. 5G rollout depends on the ability of operators to invest at extremely high spectrum prices, which means that consumers do not benefit and India’s effort to become a high promise $5 trillion economy slows down,” said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.