The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday wrote to telecom secretary J S Deepak urging him to retain the block size of 2300 megahertz (MHz) and 2500 MHz at 20 MHz instead of 10 MHz, as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Trai had on January 27 recommended on ‘Valuation and reserve price of spectrum in all bands (including 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz)’, block size of 10 MHz for spectrum in 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.
“We believe there should be no change in the block size of 2300 and 2500 MHz bands, and it should be retained at 20 MHz (unpaired) as the block size of 20 MHz leads to more efficient utilisation of the spectrum,” the director general of COAI, Rajan S Mathews said in a letter to DoT secretary.
The COAI also pointed out that the proposed reduction in block size from 20 MHz to 10 MHz will only help the telcos already holding 20 MHz of in this band to acquire additional 10 MHz without being restricted by band wise spectrum cap of 50%.
As such the block size of 10 MHz would reduce the throughput and coverage by around 20% compared to a block size of 20 MHz, said Mathews. COAI said the telecom industry requires enormous capital to meet the objectives of “Digital India” and for achieving the goal of “Broadband for all”. “To attract these investment, it is important to have a policy continuity without such uncertainties,” said COAI.