TRCSL to roll out commercial 5G services in May

• Nine spectrum lots to be offered for 10-year period

By Nishel Fernando 
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) is eyeing to commence the much-awaited spectrum assignment for the 5G rollout in early May this year, by offering nine spectrum lots for a period of 10 years. 
The TRCSL recently sought the stakeholder consultation for spectrum assignment for advance broadband service, including 
5G, recently. 
As the next step, the TRCSL announced a formal written Q&A on the spectrum assignment process from April 08-22 this year, followed by information sessions and ‘mock auctions’ (if auction is chosen as the assignment method) from April 23 to 
May 03, this year. 
The spectrum assignments are scheduled to take place from the week starting May 06, this year, 
as of now.
The nine spectrum lots the TRCSL intends to issue include 2500-2510 MHz lot, 2510-2520 MHz lot, 2540-2550 MHz lot, 3.4-3.5 GHz lot, 3.5-3.6 GHz lot, 27.0-27.1 GHz lot, 27.1-27.2 GHz lot, 27.2-27.3 GHz lot and 
27.3-27.4 GHz lot.

“… given the concerns about low demand for 5G and high spectrum costs that the operators raised, we intend to offer only the spectrum lots … at this time and inviting proposal outlines for network sharing,” the TRCSL said.
The TRCSL weighed on offering the above spectrum lots to the potential market players in a way of auction, with possible designs such as market caps, considering the concerns raised by the telco operators on possible inflated prices and hence, limited ability to invest in network infrastructure.

Plans to impose light rollout obligations

The TRCSL said plans are underway to impose light rollout obligations to the spectrum licences that include 5G services, considering the extensive 4G coverage that already exists across Sri Lanka and recognising that the relevant frequency bands are primarily suitable for increasing capacity in high-traffic areas and not for wide-area coverage.
Accordingly, the spectrum licence holders, including the 5G services, are to be required to launch commercial 5G services at a small number of base station sites in every district, in each of the first three 12-month periods after licensing. The commercial 5G services will also be required to be launched at a certain minimum number of base station sites across the country, in each of those 12-month periods. 
In addition, the operators obtaining the spectrum licences in the upcoming assignment could be given the option to meet their rollout obligations in rural districts by using either the newly obtained spectrum or other spectrum that they refarm for 5G use, which may include the existing low-band holdings, in order to maximise the coverage of those base stations in rural areas.