New Delhi, February 25 The entire 11,790 MHz spectrum, which has been recommended for auction, would be valued at around Rs 2.1 lakh crore at the base price if fully acquired, sources said after the telecom regulator, TRAI, suggested modalities for bidding on radio waves.
Sources further stated that overall, the spectrum is 19% cheaper than the prices recommended in 2022.
According to sources, if the entire spectrum – 11,790 MHz – is assigned in the auction, it would be worth Rs 2.1 lakh crore at the base or reserve price.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended auctioning the entire available radio wave spectrum on Tuesday, while proposing lower entry barriers for new players and a uniform 35% spectrum cap to safeguard competition in the telecom sector.
While urging the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to reclaim spectrum held by telecom companies undergoing insolvency, TRAI proposed halving the net worth criteria for new entrants from Rs 100 crore to Rs 50 crore per licensed service area (and from Rs 50 crore to Rs 25 crore for Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast) to encourage more participation.
All available spectrum, across nine frequency bands, should be put to auction in the forthcoming bidding, the telecom regulator recommended.
While the reserve or base price is lower than 2022 auctions for most Licensed Shared Access (LSA) and band combinations, in a few cases, it is higher than the previous sale.
In its recommendation that spans the modalities for spectrum auctions, such as the applicable reserve price, band plan, block size, and associated conditions for spectrum bids, TRAI said that the DoT should immediately reclaim spectrum held by providers undergoing insolvency and include those radio waves in the upcoming auction.
"The entire available spectrum in the 600 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz frequency bands should be put to auction in the forthcoming auction," TRAI said on Tuesday.
