Major telecom service providers in India like vodafone idea, reliance jio and bharti airtel have asked for lowering 5G spectrum prices stating that the prices are overpriced which would not help the ‘Digital India’ mission. The telecom providers pitching for this move are Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel.
The price reduction has been called for the 5G band of 3.3-3.6GHz and 700MHz. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s chairman R.S Sharma expressed his opinion that the base price of the 5G spectrum had been suggested after receiving industry feedback. However, this was unanimously rejected by Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel.
The suggestions made by Sharma about the pricing of the spectrum were decided after industry feedback, claims TRAI. Towards the end of 2019, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad brought up the topic of 5G technology in the Rajya Sabha and stressed upon finalizing a framework for this spectrum.
There was also a mention of allowing trials of 5G services in the first quarter of 2020, which is January to March. There have been 12 applications received by the Government to conduct the trials, however, there are no updates on it yet. Huawei will also be participating in 5G trials in India despite the tussle between US-China.