The Centre said it stands firm on its proposal of conducting spectrum auction in 2019, and will start planning for it from June.
This comes at a time when telecom majors — Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — have expressed their reservations over participation as the two incumbents are in a financial stress.
“Notice inviting applications (NIA) documents are in place and after June, we will start planning for 5G auctions,” Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of India’s first indigenous semiconductor chips by Signalchip in Delhi.
The notice inviting applications is a legal document that lays down rules and regulations for the auction.
When asked about the lack of preparedness and unwillingness of telecom companies to participate in the upcoming 5G auctions, Sundararajan said there were divergent views on the issue and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already begun work on conducting auctions by the end of this year. There is a DoT committee that is looking at pricing of the spectrum, she added.
Bharti Airtel said the government should ensure that 5G spectrum is available at “reasonable” prices. “My recommendation is that the government must encourage 5G coming into India rather than being late. The government can help in giving more spectrum at a reasonable price,” Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal told reporters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Spain).
He said telecom regulator Trai’s recommended price is very high, as for 5G every operator will require over 100 megahertz.
Bharti Airtel reported a 72 per cent drop in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 2018 to about Rs 86 crore from Rs 306 crore, posted in the same period of the last financial year (2017-18).
Last week, Vishant Vora, chief technology officer of Vodafone Idea said it would be better if 5G spectrum auctions were held in 2020. The company plans to complete 100 per cent integration of the two telecom networks after the mega merger by June 2020.
Vodafone Idea posted a net loss of Rs 5,004 crore in the December quarter. It was higher than the net loss of Rs 4,974 crore posted by the company in the previous quarter. The telecom company lost 35 million customers during the quarter.