The second largest telecom service operator Airtel has urged the government to lower the fees for allotting 5G spectrum, saying that a faster rollout of the next-generation telecommunication network can have more benefits than collecting revenue in upfront cost.
At the Times Network India Economic Conclave, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises noted that there are a variety of applications across sectors ranging from healthcare to video interactions, which will make 5G a technology to be introduced as soon as possible.
“5G is important and that’s why we keep on requesting the government to make the 5G as an enabler for hundreds of things that we develop in the country, to keep the spectrum at affordable pricing, to not load the industry too much,” said Mittal.
He also argued that instead of devoting money on spectrum acquisitions, service providers can invest in faster roll out of the network, which will deliver high speed connectivity with lower latency.
“I will say the multiplier impact that a faster, high-speed, low-latency network can have for a country is many times more than what can be achieved by picking up some money upfront,” added Mittal.
Telecom operators in the past have complained about high reserve prices being a deterrent, and the high cost for spectrum has been called out as one of the reasons why the telecom industry has been in a poor financial position for the last few years.
According to Mittal, who aims at offering satellite-based connectivity through a neo-constellation of satellites, said the roll outs in Alaska and Canada have been successful, and added that far-off places in India like the areas near China border, jungles of Gir or the Himalayan mountains require such a technology for connecting people.
Adding further that the terrestrial radio networks cannot reach up to 10 percent of the Indian population which can be connected through the satellites.
Speaking at the same event, V. Vaidyanathan of private sector lender IDFC First Bank said India is in the “magic quadrant” where the strength of the government can ensure reforms.
“In the course of this process, we have to really think about how to deal with the situation where a small affected minority can affect the progress and benefit of a much larger group on the basis of disturbing the overall ecosystem or disturbing the process,” said Vaidyanathan,
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, also spoke at the event highlighting the fact that over 25,000 laws and rules affecting businesses were repealed last year and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his ministerial colleagues to decriminalise certain aspects.