Good News Telecom Spectrum Auction to happen on March 2021

[Esmail]

is it because of MTNL having services there? any such thing for Mumbai?

No, both Mumbai and Delhi operations of MTNL are now taken over by BSNL. Also One 5MHz block pan India in 700 MHz band has been reserved for the Railways so available spectrum is down from 35 to 30 in each circle.

 

[kanagadeepan]

Ohh... I thought 5MHz of Band 28 was given to BSNL..

 

[Esmail]

Ohh... I thought 5MHz of Band 28 was given to BSNL..

No that is not the case, if it was that way then the sub GHz spectrum cap would have been 75.7 MHz in most circles (Where 850 MHz has 17.5 and 900 MHz has 23.2 availability) but it is 70.7 MHz which indicates that the 5MHz block is not available for commercial operations but has been allotted to the railway for non-commercial signalling purposes.

 

[saketk11]

No that is not the case, if it was that way then the sub GHz spectrum cap would have been 75.7 MHz in most circles (Where 850 MHz has 17.5 and 900 MHz has 23.2 availability) but it is 70.7 MHz which indicates that the 5MHz block is not available for commercial operations but has been allotted to the railway for non-commercial signalling purposes.

Esmail If i understand correctly.

cap of sub-GHz is 70.7 is 100% of total spectrum and indivivual operator can hold maximum 50% of it..
This means jio has to manage between renewal of 850 and also bid for maximum 1-2 block from 700Mhz.
Airtel will manage between 850 and 900 then may think of 1block in some circles if they wish to start commercial operation for trial purpose on 700Mhz along with jio.

Secondly, 700Mhz was having 45MHz, and put of for sale is 30 + 5Mhz given to railways, then where is balance of 10Mhz?

Thirdly there is also Good or i would say best way for BSNL to start 5G in 2022, If BSNL today able to select Some Suitable System Integrator like tcs, tech mahindra, or tejas... who would build 4G network and CORE upgradable to 5G. So if govt allows then BSNL also get 1 block of 700Mhz via equity route and start 5G anytime in 2022.

 

[Esmail]

cap of sub-GHz is 70.7 is 100% of total spectrum and indivivual operator can hold maximum 50% of it..
This means jio has to manage between renewal of 850 and also bid for maximum 1-2 block from 700Mhz.
Airtel will manage between 850 and 900 then may think of 1block in some circles if they wish to start commercial operation for trial purpose on 700Mhz along with jio.

The 70.7 MHz is the cap (50%) of 141.4 MHz which is the total spectrum when you consider the uplink and downlink frequencies of the paired spectrum together. If you consider it as paired 70.7 then an operator can hold a maximum of 35 MHz paired spectrum across the Sub GHz bands. If Jio wants it can comfortably go for 15 MHz in 850 MHz band and 20 MHz (4 blocks of 5 MHz) in 700 MHz band in these circles and still remain under the spectrum cap.

Secondly, 700Mhz was having 45MHz, and put of for sale is 30 + 5Mhz given to railways, then where is balance of 10Mhz?

It is with the Ministry of defence, can be used for Army, Navy or Airforce.

So if govt allows then BSNL also get 1 block of 700Mhz via equity route and start 5G anytime in 2022.

Highly unlikely currently looking at the financial condition of BSNL, they are just lucky that they got fresh 5 MHz spectrum in 2100 MHz band in 20 circles and 10 MHz in 1800 MHz band in Delhi and 5 MHz in Rajasthan in 850 MHz band to start 4G services.

 

[saketk11]

The 70.7 MHz is the cap (50%) of 141.4 MHz which is the total spectrum when you consider the uplink and downlink frequencies of the paired spectrum together. If you consider it as paired 70.7 then an operator can hold a maximum of 35 MHz paired spectrum across the Sub GHz bands. If Jio wants it can comfortably go for 15 MHz in 850 MHz band and 20 MHz (4 blocks of 5 MHz) in 700 MHz band in these circles and still remain under the spectrum cap.

It is with the Ministry of defence, can be used for Army, Navy or Airforce.

Highly unlikely currently looking at the financial condition of BSNL, they are just lucky that they got fresh 5 MHz spectrum in 2100 MHz band in 20 circles and 10 MHz in 1800 MHz band in Delhi and 5 MHz in Rajasthan in 850 MHz band to start 4G services.

what is ur opinion on this

Think Out-of-the-Box On Telecom Spectrum

From last few months, i was also thinking of same, MVNO model is not getting sucessful till now.

may be delicensing in telecom sector may boom MVNO

but this concept of Holding company, just having license to hold spectrum and make it available to any player -on demand will really make competition .

otherwise monopoly or duopolistic behaviors are adamant .

Currently airtel and vi is again crying for AGR dues, if govt/SC or DOT really consider calculation mistake then its going to benefit rcom and aircel , URARCL , the most

because UVARCL also fighting with RBI for infusion of equity at resolution stage .

If AGR and equity infusion gets success.

then can we see UVARCL as first company which will be participating in auction ( either 2021 or 2022 )and become holding spectrum company.

 

[Esmail]

this concept of Holding company, just having license to hold spectrum and make it available to any player -on demand will really make competition .

This is unlikely to happen in India ever, the government is very clear on its stand that it is the sole owner of the spectrum and the Operators that win the rights to use the spectrum in the auction are being given the same on a lease of 20 years. When operators trade spectrum with each other, they are simply changing the name of the lessee on the lease agreement, they are not allowed to sublet the spectrum to another entity while continuing to hold the lease in their own name. So this concept of a dynamic spectrum exchange being setup by a third party holding body will never see the light of day in India.
But yes as and when the tariffs go up for the 4 primary telcos we may see a lot of MVNOs building partnership with the telcos and buying voice minutes and data in bulk and retailing it in cost effective packs. But the MVNOs will initially cater to niche segments like farmers, students, etc. In select villages and cities only, and later we may see them grow to circle level or pan India scale.
In the future the primary telcos will offer unlimited voice with huge amount of bundled data, free national roaming and subsidised international roaming at high tariffs and carter to the high ARPU subscribers. While the price sensitive low revenue users will go with cheap MVNO plans with limited voice minutes and low data allowance with services limited to a circle or higher national roaming tariff and no international roaming facility.

 

[Ashok Varma]

Jio deposited (EMD) of Rs.9000/- crore for 4G spectrum worth Rs.45,000 to 66,000 crores and Airtel deposited above Rs.3000 cr for worth of Rs.15000-20000 crores spectrum and Vi deposted Rs.500 crores for spectrum worth of Rs.3500 crores.
Higher earnest money to allow Reliance Jio, Airtel to bid for all 4G bands - ET Telecom

 

[sudhakar35gm]

Esmail :
The govt allocated 1900 MHz in India to defence. Then why are we seeing news that defence has vacated their spectrum. What will MoD do without any spectrum?.

 

[sudhakar35gm]

what is ur opinion on this

Think Out-of-the-Box On Telecom Spectrum

From last few months, i was also thinking of same, MVNO model is not getting sucessful till now.

may be delicensing in telecom sector may boom MVNO

but this concept of Holding company, just having license to hold spectrum and make it available to any player -on demand will really make competition .

otherwise monopoly or duopolistic behaviors are adamant .

Currently airtel and vi is again crying for AGR dues, if govt/SC or DOT really consider calculation mistake then its going to benefit rcom and aircel , URARCL , the most

because UVARCL also fighting with RBI for infusion of equity at resolution stage .

If AGR and equity infusion gets success.

then can we see UVARCL as first company which will be participating in auction ( either 2021 or 2022 )and become holding spectrum company.

MVNO concept became flop. Because a company called VIRGIN entered the market in 2008 thereby using the DOCOMO network. Later on, it got vanished.