Airtel, a telecom service provider, advised the government on Thursday not to demand exorbitant fees for 5G spectrum allotment, arguing that a speedier rollout of the next-generation telecommunications network might have greater benefits than collecting income upfront.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which operates the country’s second-largest telecom, stated that there are several uses ranging from healthcare to video conversations that would make 5G a technology that should be implemented as soon as feasible.
5G is crucial, which is why we continue to push the government to make 5G an enabler for hundreds of things that we produce in the nation, to maintain the spectrum at an accessible price, and not overburden the sector, Mr Mittal said at a business summit.
Instead of spending money on spectrum purchases, he claimed, service providers could invest in speedier network rollout, which will give high-speed access with lower latency.
Mr Mittal went on to suggest that the multiplier effect of a quicker, high-speed, low-latency network for a country is many times more than what can be done by picking up some money upfront.
Telcos have previously claimed that high reserve prices are a barrier, and the high cost of the spectrum has been cited as one of the reasons why the telecom sector has been in a terrible financial condition in recent years.