India needs to allot reasonably priced 5G spectrum, says US FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

NEW DELHI: Ajit Pai, Chairman, US Federal Communications Commission, has said that India needs to allot 5G spectrum at a reasonable price for carriers to make an investment in networks and stressed on the need for continued dialogue with policymakers and regulatory bodies for the ‘need for speed’ in adopting the next gen technology.
“Our suggestions might be to follow some of the market based strategies, for example, to allow flexible use of spectrum and not to prescribe what particular applications or services that spectrum must be used for and let the market decide that,” Pai said at the U.S.-India multi-stakeholder webinar, on Monday.

“Also to hold free and open spectrum auctions with relatively reasonable reserve prices to enable spectrums’ deployment to the highest value to the user,” he added.

Pai also raised concerns about Chinese network vendor Huawei's equipment such as routers, which “channel out hostile software powers to eject viruses and malware and steal americans’ private data, spy on US companies and more.”

“The equipment currently at the heart of 5G networks is currently dependent on just a few global suppliers and the bloat is right now on chinese company Huawei,” Pai said.

“This has raised concerns given that Chinese law requires all companies subject to restriction to comply with requests to the country's intelligence services and bars disclosure of these requirements to third parties.”

Pai also urged Indian telecom stakeholders to be active in speaking to regulatory officials and policymakers about the importance of pushing ahead on next generation 5G networks. “The key is to be very very fast and it is important to press upon officials Indian to emphasise on the need for speed.”