Telcos need two more years to participate in 4G auctions
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Spectrum of 700 MHz is important for rolling out high-speed mobile broadband services and help operators offer mobile connectivity in rural areas and semi-urban peripheries in the country. And keeping this in mind, the telecom operators are eager to participate in an auction of airwaves in the fourth-generation band.As per a news report in The Economic Times, industry executives said they wanted time to make their business strategy to play in a fairly new band. They expect the 700 MHz band to be very expensive to buy, further straining the books of telecom operators who are sitting on about Rs 3 lakh crore of debt.
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A senior DoT official told the Economic Times, the government would sell 700 Mhz airwaves only when operators were ready. Trai had earlier suggested that the frequencies in the range of 698-806 MHz, commonly referred as the 700 MHz band, be auctioned as most of them were lying vacant and had given a 2014-15 as auction timeline expecting the LTE ecosystem to be developed by then. LTE, or longterm evolution, is a 4G technology.
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COAI's Mathews told the ET, operators would be able to use 700 MHz spectrum efficiently only when the ecosystem for it was ready globally.
As per a GSA (Global Mobile Suppliers Association) report, just seven operators have commercially launched LTE services using 700 MHz band spectrum. COAI said it was essential that the 700 MHz band be auctioned only after it was made available for the mobile industry.
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