New Delhi: With the approval of e-auction for the 5G spectrum by the Union Cabinet, the Department of Telecom (DoT) on Wednesday issued a notice inviting applications for the auction of the spectrum.
DoT in the statement mentioned the eligibility criteria for the 5G spectrum auction. The auction shall be a Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) e-auction. A total of 72097.85 MHz of the spectrum has been put to auction.
The DoT confirmed that no Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for the spectrum acquired in this auction. The requirement of submitting Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG) and Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) has been dispensed with in this auction.
Successful Bidders in this auction will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual installments, duly protecting the NPV at the interest rate of 7.2 percent.
As per the notice, all the available spectrum in 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands is part of the auction.
Spectrum allotted through this auction can be used for 5G (IMT-2020) or any other technology within the scope of the Access Service License, the DoT said.
It is expected that the Mid and High band spectrum will be utilized by Telecom Service Providers to roll out 5G technology-based services capable of providing speed and capacities which would be about 10 times higher than what is possible through the current 4G services.
(With Agency Inputs)