V/D/C NEWS :
The telecom regulator has rejected criticism by the industry on the pricing of 5G airwaves. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman PD Vaghela termed the rates "reasonable", saying they have been arrived at after considering various factors including quantum of spectrum offered, competition in the market and profitability.Vaghela has also defended the recommendations on allowing private enterprises to directly obtain 5G spectrum from the government and establish their own captive networks. He said this would lead to better spectrum utilisation, adding that the reality around Industry 4.0 and subsequent economic growth cannot be overlooked. Whatever Trai does, it does in a very professional manner. We haven't rejected any views without giving any reasons," Vaghela told ET. Trai's suggestions on captive networks are in line with global norms, he said, as many countries have given bandwidth to private enterprises. Global benchmarks should, however, not be the only factor while pricing spectrum, the Trai chairman said. Simply benchmarking against price per MHz in Purchasing Power Parity terms may also not be the right way, he said, as it ignores factors like quantum of spectrum offered, competition in the market, average revenue per user (ARPU) levels, profitability, etc., resulting in wrong estimations. "We have to consider the size of the country, the GDP projections...," he said. Vaghela's response came on a day when telecom industry body COAI, which represents all three private telecom operators - Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea - had termed Trai's recommendations as "deeply disappointing" since they had cut 5G spectrum prices by only about 40%, much lower than the industry's demand of a 90% reduction, in line with 'global norms'. During the day, Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The content of the meeting could not immediately be known
