Govt has over 7400 Mhz spectrum available for telecom services

The government has 7,446 Mhz of spectrum available for telecom services, of which over 80 per cent is in two new spectrum bands identified for mobile telephony, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha informed the Lok Sabha today.

As much as 770 megahertz (MHz) spectrum is available in the premium 700 Mhz band, 58.75 Mhz in 800 Mhz band, 15.6 Mhz in 900 Mhz band, 46.8 Mhz in 1800 Mhz band and 275 Mhz in 2100 Mhz band, according to the data shared by Sinha.

The government has identified two spectrum bands, 3300- 3400 Mhz and 3400-3600 Mhz, for telecom services and 6,050 Mhz of spectrum is available in 3300-3400 Mhz bands only.
 

However, the DoT is mulling to auction 100 Mhz in the 3300-3400 MHz band and 175 Mhz in 3425-3600 Mhz spectrum band.

"The government has already sought recommendations from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the applicable Reserve Price and related issues for auction of right to use of spectrum above 3000 MHz (3300-3400 MHz and 3400-3600 MHz) besides frequency bands 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz," Sinha said.

Responding to a query on use of radiowaves for 5G services, Sinha said the standardisation for 5G technology is expected to be completed around 2020 after which the frequency bands, already auctioned, can be utilised for its deployment.

The DoT had put 2,354.55 Mhz of spectrum for auction in 2016 across seven bands at a cumulative base price of Rs 5.6 lakh crore. Out of this, bids worth Rs Rs 65,789 crore were received for 964.8 Mhz spectrum.

The spectrum in 700 Mhz was put for auction in 2016 but it could not find any taker at price of over Rs 11,000 crore per Mhz fixed by the government. It is considered to be most suitable spectrum for 4G services.

The spectrum in 800 Mhz and 1800 Mhz were earlier used for 2G services but now telecom operators are providing 4G services using these frequencies. Radiowaves in 900 and 2100 Mhz band are being used for 2G and 3G services but gradually telecom operators are shifting their services to 4G in these bands.