India’s telecoms minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated that 5G auctions will take place ‘by June’ with 5G network rollouts to follow by ‘August-September’, The Times Of India reports. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) aims to move ahead in line with previously proposed timelines for 5G auctions after it received recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spectrum reserve prices and the quantity of airwaves to be sold, with Vaishnaw declaring: ‘We are in sync with our timelines to conduct auctions.’ The TRAI’s recommendations are now being assessed by the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) before a final review by the regulator and consideration by the Cabinet before auctions can start.
To factor in the industry’s concerns over spectrum prices, the TRAI had recommended a cut of around 40% in minimum bid prices compared to previous auctions, although telecoms sector players argued that prices were still high.