Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio unlikely to bid for 5G spectrum

Limited availability of airwaves and high base price to blame

The country’s three leading telecom operators — Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio — are unlikely to bid for 5G spectrum, citing high cost and limited availability of the airwaves, even as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) floated on Monday a request for proposal (RFP) for the appointment of an auctioneer by October 15 to conduct the auction.  

  

Apart from the high base price fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), telcos complain that enough spectrum is not available in the two bands identified in the RFP — 700 MHz and 3300-3600 MHz — because of competing claims from