The government may not auction the spectrum between 27.5-28.5 GHz and reserve it for satellite services. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommends a base price for this frequency range and recommends that it can be used for mobile and satellite services.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering auctioning only up to 27.5 GHz of spectrum, as sharing between the two services is difficult. The official said the government is looking into the possibility of using dynamic earth stations (ESIMs) in the 27.5-28.5 GHz band, which can be used for in-flight and maritime connectivity. Still, there are no plans to auction this frequency range in the meantime.

“The Digital Communications Commission (DCC) will take the call on the matter. It will send back-references to TRAI and based on TRAI’s response, DCC will firm up its views. Cabinet will make the final decision. DCC will only share its recommendations with Cabinet.

TRAI has proposed a mega auction worth more than Rs 750 crore for base prices across multiple radio wavebands allocated over 30 years. The regulator recommends using mmWave spectrum between 24.25-28.5 GHz to meet capacity needs. Its deployment is unlikely to be ubiquitous and more likely to be a hotspot or urban microcell.

Therefore, it recommends that mobile service stations and satellite earth station gateways (Earth-to-space) can coexist in the 27.5-28.5 GHz frequency range. “In uninhabited or remote areas where 5G IMT service is unlikely, satellite earth station gateways in the 27.5-28.5 GHz frequency range should be allowed case-by-case basis,” TRAI said.

Telecoms minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the auction that will pave the way for 5G services in the country could occur in early June, with services expected to be launched in August-September this year.