The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday approached the Department of Telecom (DoT), asking the latter to retain the ‘block’ size of 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz at 20 MHz instead of 10 MHz.
As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations, of January 27, on 'Valuation and reserve price of spectrum in all bands (including 700, 800, 900, 1,800, 2,100, 2,300 and 2,500)', block size of 10 MHz has been recommended for spectrum in 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz bands.
“We believe that there should be no change in the block size of 2,300/2,500 MHz bands, and it should be retained at 20 MHz (unpaired) as the block size of 20 MHz leads to more efficient utilisation of the spectrum,” Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI, said in a letter to DoT Secretary JS Deepak.
He said the block size of 10 MHz would reduce the throughput and coverage by around 20 per cent compared with a block size of 20 MHz.
He also said the remaining 10MHz spectrum in 2,300MHz band would not be sufficient for the roll-out of the efficient network. Therefore, the proposed change in the block size may lead to the balance 10MHz spectrum remaining unsold and a consequent loss to the exchequer.
“We strongly believe that the proposed reduction in block size from 20 MHz to 10 MHz will only help the operators already holding 20 MHz in this band, to acquire additional 10 MHz without being restricted by band-wise spectrum cap of 50 per cent,” Mathews added in the letter.
Operators were already not happy about the reserve price of the premium band – 700 MHz – which was fixed at ₹11,485 crore per megahertz pan India. This is twice the price fixed for the 800 MHz band.
The sector regulator had also issued the recommendations on valuation and reserve price of spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz.
The biggest demand is expected to be for 2,100 MHz and 2,300 MHz, both considered to be suitable for data services. For 1,800 MHz and 2,500 MHz, the reserve price has been fixed at ₹2,873 crore and ₹817 crore, respectively.