A Parliamentary Panel on Wednesday expressed concerns over the high-spectrum price for 5G and the delay in the rollout of the next-generation network. The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, Chaired by Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, in its report, said that 5G should be rolled out in India at least for a few specific use cases, but there’s no development in that area which is concerning. Further, the report mentioned that the high cost of the 5G spectrum is a concern as well and asked the government to pay attention to it. The committee said that delay in the rollout of 5G would deprive India of taking advantage of the various benefits that 5G has to offer when other countries would have already made significant progress in the deployment of the technology. According to a PTI report, the committee asked the government to oversee that the telecom department is reviewing all its policies related to 5G so that India doesn’t get left behind.
Pricing of 5G Spectrum Exorbitantly High in India
As per the Parliamentary Panel, the pricing of the 5G spectrum is exorbitantly high in the country and needs to be reviewed by keeping in mind the average revenue per user (ARPU) figure of the telcos and the average capita. The committee said that the pricing of the spectrum should not be so high that it affects the telecom sector in the long term. The sector was already under a lot of stress, and there are still two telecom operators who aren’t making profits for a long time. However, it is worth noting that the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the top body inside the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), said that the base reserve price of the airwaves won’t be changed and will remain what TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) had suggested. Further, the airwaves will only be auctioned for 20 years instead of the 30 years that the telcos were looking for
