A Committee of Secretaries (CoS) including the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Department of Space discussed spectrum allocation to various user departments/ministries in the context of spectrum needs of emerging technologies such as 5G and IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) and recommended the spectrum allocation in relevant key bands. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had already sent a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on September 9, 2021, seeking recommendations on the auction of spectrum in frequency bands identified for IMT and 5G. Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, wrote to the Rajya Sabha that the government formed a CoS and discussed the relevant spectrum that should be allotted to various departments/ministries.
5G Spectrum Auctions in India
The Indian government has decided to hold the 5G spectrum auctions in the summer of 202. The government wants the private telcos to launch 5G networks on August 15, 2022. For that, DoT had asked TRAI to expedite the submission of recommendations for the 5G spectrum auctions. TRAI is likely to submit the recommendations by March-end or early April this year. This would mean that the government might plan the spectrum auctions for May or June 2022. The telecom operators are already conducting 5G trials in cities including Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, and more.
