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COAI welcomes 5G trials, but cautious on pricing
The Cellular Operators Association of India said in a statement shared with the press that it welcomed the recently announced 5G trials. “We welcome the government’s decision to start exhaustive 5G trials in different categories of locations across India. It will stimulate local R&D ecosystem to develop innovative applications tailored to commercial needs. It will enable TSPs to validate 5G technologies and use cases such as IoT and Industry 4.0. We hope the Government will also look into the industry’s call for revisiting the 5G spectrum pricing,” COAI said. The demand that pricing for 5G spectrum be lowered is a longstanding one, considering the precarious financial situation that Airtel or Vi might face if forced to make such a significant investment into spectrum on new airwaves. After six months of the trials are over, the sticky questions around spectrum pricing will probably take the front seat again.