Par panel expresses concern on high spectrum price, delay in 5G rollout

Expressing concern over high spectrum price, a Parliamentary Panel on Wednesday asked the government to pay due attention to the issues raised by telecom operators and take steps for early rollout of the 5G services.

The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, chaired by Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, in its report expressed concern about the 5G rollout delay that will deprive the country of taking advantage of various benefits of 5G when other countries of the world have made noticeable progress in the deployment of the technology.

"It is high time that 5G should be rolled out in India in some specific Use Cases, however, the Committee do not see any progress in that direction. The Committee, therefore, reiterates that the Department need to review all their policies relating to 5G so that the country is not left behind in the race for 5G," the panel said in the report.

The panel said that it desires that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may be impressed to expedite their recommendations on the 5G spectrum so that the 5G auction can be held at the earliest.

The panel noted that the pricing of the 5G spectrum in the country is exorbitantly high as compared to other countries in the world and there is a need to review the spectrum pricing by taking into account factors such as per capita and ARPU (average revenue per user) in the country.

As per December 2021 quarter financial reports, VIL had reported ARPU of Rs 115, Bharti Airtel Rs 163 and Reliance Jio Rs 151.6.