4G (700 Mhz) News & Updates !!

[Chief]

Infotel Broadband, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has suggested that the reserve price of the 4G spectrum should be fixed 7 to 8 times higher than that of 3G radio waves.

The reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum had been fixed at Rs 3,500 crore.

In response to TRAI's consultation paper on 'Auction of Spectrum', the company said that the economic value of the spectrum in 700 Mhz band is higher than 2100 Mhz allocated for 3G services and 900/800 Mhz band allocated for 2G service.

"Based on the above comparable factors given by the Authority, the reserve price for 700 Mhz spectrum may be kept around 7-8x of 3G auction price," Infotel Broadband IBSL said.

When contacted, a senior company official clarified that the '3G auction price' refers to base price that government has fixed for auction of 3G spectrum in 2010.

The government had fixed cumulative reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore pan-India 3G spectrum while the reserve price of each telecom circle was fixed separately.

Infotel said that the government should follow similar practice for 700 Mhz band auction.

The company had won a 20 Mhz slot pan-India BWA spectrum for Rs 12,847.71 crore in 2300 Mhz spectrum band and the company is conducting technology trials for rolling out services.

Infotel referred to Trai's presentation in which it said that LTE network (4G technology) at 700 Mhz would be 70 percent cheaper to deploy than an LTE network at 2100 Mhz.

The company also asked for separate consultation process for auction of 4G spectrum band.

Bharti Airtel said that the reserve price for 700 Mhz /800 Mhz bands shoulb be at Rs 930 crore per Mhz for pan-India.

Vodafone suggested that the price should be set at the reserve price applied in the 3G and BWA auction case.

Reliance Communication said that the value of spectrum in 700 Mhz band should be at least three times the auction discovered price of BWA in 2.3 Ghz band.

The government had garnered over Rs 38,543 crore from auction of this spectrum.


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[Xen]

700MHz spectrum auction for 4G services in 2014: Sibal



The Government on Monday said it will auction spectrum in 700 MHz band, which is used for offering high—speed Internet services through fourth generation technologies, in 2014.

“We are going to auction the 700 band in any case by 2014,” Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said during the commissioning of country’s first lab for measuring specific absorption rate (SAR) for mobile handsets.

The 700— MHz spectrum band ranges from 698 MHz to 806 MHz and has been identified by the International Telecommunication Union for telecom services.

“We have set up a lab in the country so that mobile phones can be tested here for electromagnetic radiations,” Sibal said.

He added more such labs will be set up across the country starting with Mumbai.


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[Xen]

Govt likely to auction 700 Mhz soon

Cellular operators in India may soon get the option to acquire spectrum in 700MHz band, which is considered as one of the most efficient bands currently used worldwide.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is currently discussing details of the auction of 700MHz spectrum band, said a top DoT official. Details of technology, process of allocation, availability, and tentative time for the auction are currently being worked out. "Discussion on 700MHz auction is going on. The timing of the auction is to be decided," said the official.

However, the DoT may need to seek recommendations from the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on reserve price of 700MHz spectrum like other bands.

Last month, Trai chairman Rahul Khullar, in an interview to Business Standard, has said that the auction of 700MHz spectrum band is unlikely before 2015-16 as the government has yet to decide on what technology should be adopted for 700MHz airwaves. Unless the technology is decided, the ecosystem will not develop.

At present, many countries like the US, Latin America and Australia are either using or are setting up long-term evolution (LTE) networks on 700MHz spectrum. There are more than 280 devices available in the market that can be used for 4G or LTE services on 700MHz spectrum.


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