Heena Sharma Blog

Telecom operators have demanded additional spectrum urgently on a temporary basis in order to cope with the unprecedented spurt in data usage as a result of “work from home” and “self-quarantine” at homes across the country due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak . In a letter to the department of telecommunications (DoT), the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has demanded additional spectrum both for “access and backhaul microwave” for a short term and temporarily as they need to augment their capacity to meet the growing demand. COAI director general Rajan Matthew however says they are still waiting for a response from the government. The telecom association has also asked DoT for expedited permission for tower enhancement from states (as thy ramp up capacity), extension in minimum roll out timelines by six months and permission for go for digital acquisition of new customers instead of physical documentation, especially as there has been a sharp rise in acq...

Strongly opposing a bailout of telecom companies at taxpayers' expense, Reliance Jio on Thursday wrote to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying firms that have been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay past statutory dues have "sufficient" financial capacity to clear their liabilities. It also slammed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for writing ex-parte to the government on the financial distress in the sector, saying the body was "blackmailing" to "extract relief from the government" after all legal recourse had expired. "We submit that the so-called affected service providers have sufficient financial capacity to pay the government dues by monetising their existing assets/investments and by issuing fresh equity in their companies," it wrote to Prasad. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan had earlier said that India wants to be a frontrunner in adopting 5G technology Economy & Policy News : Telecom   industry body   COAI   has said auction of spectrum for 5G services should happen only around the second half of 2019 as it would offer   telcos   better visibility into market dynamics and potential revenue streams of the next-generation mobile services. The pricing of 5G spectrum, which would be required in larger blocks or chunks than seen before, would also be "critical component of success of these auctions" that should ideally take place in the "mid to latter part of 2019", Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) Director General Rajan Mathews told   PTI. Further, the ongoing financial stress in the industry will also have to be dealt with for the   telecom   operators to make investments into 5G auctions, he said. The advent of 5G is seen as the next technologica...