Spectrum Auctions

• 08 Jan 2021

Why in News

Bidding for the sixth round of spectrum auction for radio waves worth Rs. 3.92 lakh crore will start from 1^st March 2021.

• The long-awaited spectrum auction is being held after a gap of four years and over two years after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) calculated and recommended base/reserve price for the radio waves.

Key Points

• About the Spectrum Auctions:
  
  • Devices such as cellphones and wireline telephones require signals to connect from one end to another. These signals are carried on airwaves (medium of radio waves), which must be sent at designated frequencies to avoid any kind of interference.
    
    • Interference may prevent reception altogether, may cause only a temporary loss of a signal, or may affect the quality of the sound or picture produced by one’s equipment.
  • The Union government owns all the publicly available assets within the geographical boundaries of the country, which also include airwaves.
    
    • With the expansion in the number of cellphone, wireline telephone and internet users, the need to provide more space for the signals arises from time to time.
  • To sell these assets to companies willing to set up the required infrastructure to transport these waves from one end to another, the central government through the Department of Telecom (Ministry of Communications) auctions these airwaves from time to time.
    
    • These airwaves are called spectrum, which is subdivided into bands which have varying frequencies.
    • All these airwaves are sold for a certain period of time, after which their validity lapses, which is generally set at 20 years.
• About the Latest Auction:
  
  • The last spectrum auctions were held in 2016. The need for a new spectrum auction has arisen because the validity of the airwaves bought by companies is set to expire in 2021.
  • In December 2020, the Union Cabinet cleared the sale of 2251.25 MHz of spectrum (for 4G) across seven frequency bands at a reserve price of Rs. 3.92 lakh crore.
    
    • This is likely to provide a boost to government revenue collections at a time when its inflows from other sources such as direct taxes, indirect taxes such as goods and services tax, have fallen sharply on account of restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
  • However, the government has skipped the sale of the much-coveted 5G airwaves in this round, auctions for which could though be announced soon.
    
    • Airwaves in the 3500 MHz band are considered ideal for the first wave of the 5G.
  • Depending on the demand from various companies, the price of the airwaves may go higher, but cannot go below the reserve price.
    
    • A reserve price is a minimum price that a seller would be willing to accept from a buyer. If the reserve price is not met, the seller is not required to sell the item, even to the highest bidder.
    • The reserve price is recommended by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
  • The successful bidders will have to pay 3% of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) as spectrum usage charges.
    
    • AGR is divided into spectrum usage charges and licensing fees that are fixed between 3-5% and 8% respectively.
    • It is the usage and licensing fee that telecom operators are charged by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
• Potential Buyers:
  
  • Apart from existing telecom players, new companies, including foreign companies, are eligible to bid for the airwaves.
    
    • Foreign companies, however, will have to either set up a branch in India and register as an Indian company, or tie up with an Indian company to be able to retain the airwaves after winning them.

Source:IE