Spectrum Allocation

Indian telecom operators owe the government significant spectrum fees, following years of high-stakes auctions and competitive bidding for airwave rights

Industry body COAI on Tuesday said the Cabinet nod for bank guarantee waiver for past spectrum purchases is a "landmark decision" that would help reduce financial burden on telecom operators in the country. The association - whose members include Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio - further said the move will enhance cash flow, free up capital and enable capital investments in network expansion and technology upgrades. This, COAI said, will ensure a stronger and robust rollout of telecom networks in the future. "COAI welcomes the Union Cabinet's move and thanks the Government on approving the waiving of bank guarantee for telecom operators on spectrum purchased before 2022. This landmark decision will significantly help reduce the financial burden on the telecom operators in the country," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI said in a statement. The Union Cabinet has waived the requirement to submit bank guarantees for spectrum purchased through auctions held before 2022

Telecoms Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said during a New Delhi event that the spectrum will be allocated administratively in line with Indian laws, and its pricing worked out by the telecom watchdog

The disagreement centres around whether satellite broadband spectrum should be auctioned or administratively allocated in India

Suggests pricing tied to AGR, separate charges for C, Ku, and Ka bands

Tech firms and telecom companies tussle of 6 GHz spectrum allocation, while DoT worries about potential impact on Isro satellite operations

Telecom regulator will begin, in a month, the consultation process for deciding the terms, conditions and other modalities for administrative allocation of spectrum for satellite-based telecom services. India's satellite communications sector is "flourishing" and has the potential to propel the country to new heights, TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said at 'India SatCom 2024' organised by Broadband India Forum (BIF). "Regarding the spectrum requirement of space-based communications, the Telecom Act has provision for assignment of spectrum through administrative process for certain satellite-based communications services. Government has sent a reference seeking recommendations of TRAI on terms and conditions for spectrum assignment to certain satellite-based telecom services," Lahoti said. TRAI will soon come out with a consultation paper on the matter. "We have received a reference from the government...it should take about a month's time to issue the consultation paper... you can

The Budget 2024-24 on Tuesday allocated Rs 1,309.46 crore for census, a significant reduction from 2021-22 when Rs 3,768 crore was allocated for the decadal exercise, an indication that it may not be carried out even after a significant delay. A meeting of the Union cabinet on December 24, 2019 had approved the proposal for conducting census of India 2021 at a cost of Rs 8,754.23 crore and updating the National Population Register (NPR) at a cost of Rs 3,941.35 crore. The house listing phase of the census and the exercise to update the NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020 but were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The census operation continues to be on hold and the government has not yet announced the new schedule. Officials said since general elections had taken place this year, the census exercise will not be able to be carried out in 2024. According to the Budget 2024-25, Rs 1,309.46 crore has been allocated for censu

Terms of reference for satellite spectrum allocation, processes for data interception in the works, say officials

The upcoming spectrum auction will start from May 20, according to the notice inviting application released by the Department of Telecom on Friday. Government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore. Spectrum which is held by certain companies undergoing insolvency processes as well as frequencies expiring this year will also be put on auction.

Spectrum allocation is holding up satellite broadband

The 6 Ghz band spectrum has a range of around 1200 Mhz radiowaves frequencies

The industry is sharply divided over whether spectrum should be auctioned or distributed by administrative fiat

In mobile services, the allocation of spectrum is exclusively for the use of the operator

The DoT will likely enquire on whether the spectrum is to be given administratively or through auction.

OneWeb is also in the process of getting regulatory approvals for a proposed merger with French satellite major Eutelsat Communications

Spectrum for satellite broadband services is not in the Bill's list and it would likely be auctioned

Lufthansa Technik AG announced that it was setting up a 5G private network which would be operated by Vodafone plc and use Nokia Oyj equipment

One of the key issues that ISpA will look at is the space policy, which is being finalised

COAI said spectrum reforms notified by government including removal of financial bank guarantee requirements, and scrapping of SUC for future auctions would ease financial burden on operators