Next spectrum sale likely to be held in second half of 2017

The telecom ministry is planning to hold another spectrum sale, for both the pending spectrum from the last sale and the higher frequency bands. Telecommunications secretary JS Deepak told ET that the auction would most likely happen in the second half of this year.

However, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal had said that local telecom operators have a surplus of spectrum, and are in no need of buying more airwaves this year. He had also added that the government might not even hold an auction in the coming fiscal.

Also read: Sunil Bharti Mittal calls Reliance Jio unfair competition

Deepak, on the other hand, said that Indian telecom companies now have sufficient opportunity to buy airwaves from each other or the government.

During the Mobile World Congress, an event Deepak was a part of, global industry body GSMA termed India a lighthouse and said that Indian reforms and ease of business policies could be emulated by other nations.

Deepak, in his address, went on to compare the annual sale of bandwidth with the business at a supermarket.

"If a supermarket doesn't sell all its goods in one day, it doesn't get a heart attack or high blood pressure. It will sell the next day, next week, next month,” he said.

When talked about the 5G technology, he said that one can expect a policy on use of higher band spectrum (including 5G) in the next three to four months.

(Image source: Economic Times)