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Setting the stage for the rollout of 5G services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mooted a mega auction plan valued at over Rs 7.5 lakh crore at the base price across multiple bands for radiowaves allocated over 30 years. Overall, the TRAI recommended about a 39 per cent reduction in the reserve or floor price for the sale of spectrum for mobile services, including the latest 5G offering, as it looked to match revenue expectations with the industry's paying capacity.

The watchdog has recommended a mega auction plan of over Rs 7.5 lakh crore for over 1 lakh megahertz spectrum in case government allocates it for a period of 30 years. In case of 20 years, the total value of the proposed spectrum auction will stand at around Rs 5.07 lakh crore at the reserve price, according to the back-of-the-envelop calculation. With large swathes of spectrum remaining unsold in the last two auctions, Trai recommended to the government for selling airwaves in all existing bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz and new slots of 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz. It has suggested a lower reserve price for all bands, compared to last recommended prices in 2018.

On a 20-year scenario, the floor price in the 700 MHz band has been cut by 40 per cent to Rs 3,927 crore per MHz for a pan-India spectrum while the same in 800 MHz has been lowered by 22 per cent to about Rs 3,620 crore per MHz, pan-India. For the prime 5G frequency of 3300-3670 MHz band, the all-India reserve price adds up to Rs 317 crore per MHz, which is more than 35 per cent lower than the Rs 492 crore/MHz suggested by Trai last time around.