Government To Auction Millimetre-Wave Bands For 5G By The End Of Next Year After Consulting With TRAI

The Centre is planning to auction spectrum of millimetre bands of 24.75 to 27.25 Giga Hertz (GHz), the frequency band for high-speed 5G technology, by the end of next year after consulting with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, reports The Hindu Businessline.

According to the report, the Department of Telecom (DoT) will be communicating to TRAI soon to discuss the reserve price and related issues.

“We will be writing to TRAI for the millimetre bands — 24.75 to 27.25 GHz. These are called millimetre bands because the wavelength is very small. These are 5G bands and would very much be required as the ecosystem is evolving,” a senior government official was quoted in the report as saying.

The official added that the new airwaves will be different from the upcoming auctions in March/April, which were approved by the Digital Communications Commission on 20 December.

Under the March/April auctions, 8,300 Mega Hertz (MHz) of airwaves across the 22 circles in the country are set to be put on block.

“We would seek TRAI’s views on the millimetre bands in the next few weeks and probably put them for auction by end next year,” the official said.

These bands will be used in the fields of agriculture, healthcare and security as 5G has in-depth connection with a lot of sectors, the official added.