India’s telecoms operators are not ready to invest in 700-MHz spectrum, despite its potential for the expansion of mobile broadband services, it emerged this week.
The operators are lobbying for a delay of two years before any sale of spectrum in the 700 MHz band to give more time for them to create business plans and for the ecosystem to mature, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.
With regard to the former, the need to develop business plans could be more accurately explained as the need to find the money for the spectrum. The paper noted that India’s telcos are facing a collective debt burden of around 3 trillion rupees (&eu ro;43 billion).
Mobile industry body the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is calling on the government to lay out its roadmap for the planned allocation of the 700 MHz band.
Having a timetable in place will make it easier for operators to plan for the auction, as well as facilitating the development of the relevant network equipment and device ecosystems.
The call comes a day after the same newspaper reported that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has requested a proposal from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regarding the reserve prices for spectrum in various different bands that is due to be sold off as early as next year.
The DoT has included the 700 MHz band in that request, but has yet to make a decision on whether those airwaves will form part of the 2016 auction.
It is waiting to gauge the response of operators, the Economic Times said.
