Indian Navy's reluctance to vacate spectrum likely to delay 5G auction

The entire spectrum offered by the govt in the last auction was sold off at the base price

The Indian Navy has expressed reservations in vacating 100 Mhz of the spectrum, proposed to be sold in the tender expected next year, sources said. This could delay the Centre’s plans to proceed with the 5G auctions in 2022.

A department of telecom (DoT) official said, “The Indian Navy is showing reluctance in vacating the spectrum from the 3.3 GHz-3.4 GHz band that it is using. Unless there is some traction with them on this issue, we can’t seek consultation from TRAI.”

The 3300 MHz-3600 MHz (or 3.3GHz-3.6GHz) will be auctioned for the first time in the proposed 5G auctions, likely next