Telecom regulator Trai today began the process of consultation for next round of spectrum auction across nine bands which include 60 per cent of the unsold radiowaves in last auction and 275 megahertz from two new 5G bands.
It has also sought fresh views on valuation methodology for the prized 700 MHz, a band that found no takers in the last auction given the reserve or base price of Rs 11,485 crore per MHz in 2016.
"If Trai wants to start the consultation process, there is no harm... The question is when will the auction actually happen and how the pricing and modalities fit with the new telecom policy," he said.
The sector is undergoing massive consolidation and there are issues around "rationalising and normalising" of spectrum holdings as two telcos merge, he pointed out.
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Trai noted that the telecom industry is undergoing consolidation phase as some of telecom service providers have filed merger of their companies/licences while a few licensees have traded their entire spectrum holding and closed their services.
Noting DoT's views that the telecom industry owes about Rs 4.60 lakh crore to various financial institutions and banks, Trai said that due to hyper competition, concerns have been expressed about the financial health of the sector, revenue growth and the capability of the companies to meet their contractual commitments.
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