Trai On Spectrum Auction

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

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

For spectrum which would be required to connect user terminals (like individual homes), Jio has suggested it should be auctioned frequency-wise and exclusively to an operator at a pan-India level

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular say there can be no case for holding spectrum auctions in the prevailing scenario where the industry locked in a tariff war