Cut off Huawei and ZTE's back door? Indian government will lower 5G spectrum prices

According to Indian media reports, a government official said that the government is aware that keeping Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE out of India's 5G market may push up local network deployment costs. Therefore, the government is willing to re-evaluate the 5G spectrum floor price proposed by regulators to compensate telecom companies for the price difference in purchasing non-Chinese equipment.

The official said that procurement procedures have been revised, (equipment) "surveillance" has become a global problem, and companies such as Huawei and ZTE whose ownership is questioned will find it increasingly difficult to obtain contracts. In this case, excluding Chinese suppliers is "a natural progression or result of national security concerns in various countries."

However, some experts said that excluding Huawei and ZTE would make Indian telecom companies rely on Europe's Ericsson and Nokia in addition to South Korea's Samsung, which would increase deployment costs by 15%-20% and ultimately hurt retail and industrial customers.

In response, Indian officials said the government is aware of the cost impact this will bring, especially considering that the two Chinese companies are offering the lowest telecom equipment rates in history. But the current situation provides the government with an opportunity to lower the price of 5G spectrum, making competition more intense during the auction.

It is understood that India's 4G spectrum auction may be held in October-November, while the 5G auction is expected to wait until next year. Indian telecom operators have applied for spectrum for 5G trials, but the application has been delayed for a long time. Among them, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have applied to cooperate with Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia for trials, but if the government does not allow Chinese companies to participate in the trials, these collaborations may fall through.