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India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated the process for auctioning the next round of 5G spectrum. The DoT has sent a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to determine reserve prices for various bands. It has been reported that all unsold frequencies from the previous spectrum auction, along with additional frequencies in the 37 GHz band, will be up for sale.

The DoT plans to sell airwaves ranging from 600 MHz to above 37 GHz. However, the 6 GHz band has been excluded from the upcoming sale. Local operators are urging the government to allocate this spectrum for telecom services, while tech companies want it for Wi-Fi provision. The DoT has yet to make a final decision regarding the 6 GHz band.

Trai will now review the DoT’s reference and prepare a consultation paper on the matter in the following weeks. It is expected that local operators Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel will likely be the only bidders, as Vodafone Idea lacks the funds to participate in the auction.

The future spectrum auction will also include frequencies set to expire in 2024. Spectrum in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands for eight circles is expiring in 2024. Currently, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea hold this spectrum.

In the previous 5G spectrum auction, Reliance Jio acquired the largest amount of spectrum, spending billion. Airtel won spectrum worth .4 billion and Vodafone received spectrum worth .4 billion. Adani purchased spectrum worth approximately million for its private 5G network services.

Airtel has already rolled out 5G services in over 3,500 cities and towns across India and aims to cover every town and key rural area in the country by September 2023. In October 2022, Airtel initially launched 5G services in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru.

Reliance Jio has rapidly expanded its 5G network using Standalone architecture since October 2022. The telco has already deployed its 5G service in 6,258 cities across 36 states in India.

Vodafone Idea has been in “advanced talks” with several vendors to finalize its strategy for 5G deployment in India. The company is negotiating loans with local banks to secure the necessary funds for launching 5G services.

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