socrates
I got banned!
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it will not buy 5G spectrum in the upcoming auction if its base price is fixed at Rs 492 crore per megahertz as recommended by the telecom regulator Trai.
The company has stressed balance sheet reeling under debt of Rs 1.14 trillion with liability to clear statutory dues of around 35,500 crore, following a Supreme Court order in October 2019 that upheld the government's stand on calculating levies over telecom licences.
The wireless planning and coordination of the telecom ministry has allotted 800, 100, and 10 units in the (N78)3.5 GHz, (mmWave)26 GHz, and (N28)700 MHz respectively. The ministry allocated these bands to Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea for conducting trails in six months.
A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official said that the Indian Navy isn’t ready to vacate the 5G spectrum that it holds for the auctions. Until and unless the DoT can clear things up with the Indian Navy, it can’t seek consultation on the matter from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).