According to the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) issued on Wednesday, the Cabinet has left the reserve price of 5G airwaves unchanged, dealing a blow to the telcos. The auctions are now set to begin at the end of July.

Telcos had requested a 90% reduction in the reserve price of airwaves from 2018 levels. Trai’s April recommendations reduced overall prices by 39% compared to the August 2018 suggested prices.

Meanwhile, the cabinet approved the sale of 72,097.85 MHz of spectrum with a 20-year validity period on Tuesday. Spectrum in 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz frequency bands will be auctioned off.