India starts preparations for spectrum auction later this year

The Indian government recently approved the next round of spectrum auctions, without giving any timelines.

Around 10,513.15MHz of spectrum will be for sale, including 118.75MHz (paired) in the 800MHz band; 118MHz (paired) in 900MHz; 221.4MHz (paired) in 1800MHz; 125MHz (paired) in 2100MHz; 60MHz in 2300MHz; 70 MHz in 2500 MHz; 1,100 MHz in 3300 MHz; and 8,700 MHz in 26 GHz, according to media reports. The base price will be set at INR963 billion (US$11.6 billion).

While the government has not given any timeline for the auction, it is safe to assume that it will be held in the next financial year, possibly after the general election. India's financial year runs from April to March.

Response is likely to be subdued because of a lack of demand from the industry. The government seems to be aware of this. "The next spectrum auction will be a limited auction because an already large part of the spectrum required by the industry was auctioned last year, but every financial year, we are trying to have one auction," Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said some time back.

Renewing leases

The last spectrum auction, which included 5G spectrum, was held in 2022 and helped the government rake in INR1.5 trillion ($18.08 billion).

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have some spectrum coming up for renewal after the end of their 20-year lease periods. The Union Cabinet has approved both service providers to continue using the spectrum by paying the price based on last auction's results to avoid any disruption of services. Airtel’s spectrum in 900MHz and 1800MHz is due for renewal in six circles (service areas) of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West). Vodafone Idea’s spectrum is up for renewal in two circles – West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (West).

The government has also decided to assign 5MHz spectrum in the 700MHz frequency band for regional and urban rail-based transit systems. Additionally, 5MHz in the same 700MHz band will be given to the railways for Kavach (translated as Shield) to the Indian Railways. Kavach is an Automatic train protection (ATP) system developed domestically to enhance the safety of train operations.

The government also announced setting up of a committee to be chaired by the cabinet secretary to finalize plans for refarming of some spectrum bands.