Telecom industry body GSMA has urged the India government to reduce the spectrum price of 700 MHz.
During the spectrum auction held in October 2016, the India government did not get any single bid for the 700 MHz band, which is widely used for 4G services.
GSM mobile operator association COAI and Bharti Airtel earlier asked the government to reduce the price of 700 MHz spectrum.
“As we had cautioned, the spectrum went unsold because the reserve prices for this highly sought-after band were set at an unrealistically high level of more than $60 billion,” said John Giusti, chief regulatory officer of GSMA.
GSMA said telecom regulators should consider the conditions of the local market when setting reserve prices for spectrum auctions. In India, mobile operators have been asked to pay some of the highest rates for spectrum compared to other markets, even though it has a low average revenue per user (ARPU) at $2.45, as of the end of 2015.
GSMA said the successful sale of licenses in the 1800 MHz band is a step in the right direction, helping provide better quality LTE services.
In many telecom markets, mobile operators are struggling to justify the business case for purchasing spectrum at high reserve prices, as proven in India, as well as in the 700 MHz auctions in Australia and Senegal.
There is a vibrant global ecosystem in the 700 MHz band with over 100 LTE networks launched worldwide, supported by 469 devices.
