Telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea, have when once more clashed with technologies players like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and so forth, more than a spectrum band which has the prospective to provide higher-speed broadband services, particularly in remote places and for greater in-constructing coverage.
Though the fight is a couple of years old, it resurfaced earlier this month when the division of telecommunications scheduled meetings with operators and sector associations to program difficulties associated to spectrum management and allocation more than the next couple of years.
The divide in between the two sides is whether or not spectrum in the concerned band need to be delicensed or need to be allocated by way of auctions as is the case for access services spectrum.
The telecom operators are of the view that the spectrum in the concerned band need to be auctioned as not carrying out so would lead to loss of income to the government as these bands have a quite higher industrial worth proposition. Telcos have conveyed the exact same to the government by way of their association, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). Opposed to their stand are technologies players, who by way of their association, Broadband India Forum (BIF) have stated that the spectrum need to be delicensed and not auctioned as it is not the exact same as spectrum for access services. Questioning the COAI’s stand, BIF has pointed out that auctioning of spectrum in these bands would go against international finest practices.
The concerned spectrum is the E and V bands, which are applied as backhaul to connect mobile exactly where fibre is not obtainable.
Sources in the division of telecommunications (DoT) have therefore far maintained that auction is ruled out but so is administrative assignment, which suggests allocating spectrum on 1st-cum-1st-served basis. What’s probably on the cards is a light touch licensing but a final selection is awaited.
In truth, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which submitted its suggestions to the DoT way back in August 2014 has also favoured a light licensing method and not auctioning this spectrum.
The Trai had advised that each E and V band need to be opened with ‘light touch regulation’ and allotment need to be on a ‘link to link basis’. It had stated that E band carrier need to be charged at Rs 10,000 per annum per carrier of 250 MHz every and there need to be initial promotional discount of 50% for 3 years from the date of allocation of 1st carrier in this band. In case of charging of V band carriers, it had stated that it need to be Rs 1,000 per annum per carrier of 50MHz every. It has stated that rates would be reviewed soon after 5 years primarily based on deployment and usage.
The argument against auction is simply because there’s not considerably the government is going to get by carrying out so in contrast to access spectrum. The worth of a spectrum band depends upon several components, like ecosystem but the most critical element is its propagation traits. The reduced frequency spectrum is more beneficial compared to the greater frequency as the radio waves riding on the former travels additional, thereby requiring fewer base stations, which suggests significantly less operational expenses.
The worth of E and V band spectrum is low simply because they have quite poor propagation traits as they fall in between 71-76 Ghz and 81-86 Ghz (E band) and in between 57-64 Ghz (V Band). These bands are like fibre and can be applied for broadband services but not for direct mobile connectivity.
According to some analysts, the telecom operators are opposed to the move to delicense the E and V bands as they worry that technologies businesses might enter into the broadband marketplace and use the delicensed spectrum, which would come totally free of expense, to provide services to customers. This might lead to a non-level playing field as telecom operators have spent billions of rupees in acquiring access spectrum to offer you the exact same type of services. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook and so forth have in the previous shown their intent to provide broadband working with delicensed spectrum.