5G spectrum went unsold but telcos want more bands put up for auction

Even as telcos deferred from bidding for mm-wave spectrum in the 5G auctions which took place last week, Reliance Jio and Airtel have urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to put additional high frequency spectrum on auction.

During the consultation proceedings auction of Frequency Spectrum in 37-37.5 GHz, 37.5-40 GHz, and 42.5-43.5 GHz – the top two telcos maintained that further availability of 5G spectrum will aid in the proliferation of the 5G network. Vodafone Idea countered, pointing out that even with the availability of 26GHz spectrum 5G deployment is skeletal at best, and further spectrum available would not necessarily change much.