NEW DELHI: With the new government taking charge, the Department of Telecommunications ( DoT ) may auction 4G and 5G spectrum as early as September-October, likely at prices recommended by the regulator.Telcos are “ready” for the next round of spectrum sale , a senior government official said, discounting views that the base prices recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for some bands that support 5G are too high to attract bids.“The committee (looking into the regulator’s recommendations) has agreed that all available spectrum will have to be put up for auction, which we will take up to the DCC (Digital Communications Commission) on June 13,” the official said, asking not to be identified.“An inter-ministerial committee is going ahead with the selection of the auctioneer... We will move fast – September-October is by when the auctions can happen.”The auction is expected to be India’s largest so far, with 8,293.95 MHz of airwaves at an estimated total base price of Rs 5.77 lakh crore expected to go under the hammer. That’s 3.5 times the 2,354 MHz of spectrum offered at the previous auction in 2016, for which the total base price was Rs 5.63 lakh crore.The 2016 sale ended with the government raising almost Rs 66,000 crore after some spectrum bands failed to attract bids due to high reserve prices. Airwaves across seven 4G bands, besides 5G spectrum, are set to be made available for bidding for top telcos Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Telecom companies have said the prices suggested by Trai are unsustainable and too high. Pointing to low base prices set by countries such as South Korea, on a per MHz basis for 5G airwaves, they say India’s pricing is seven times higher.Intense competition in the sector since the entry of Jio in 2016 has weakened the balance sheets of telcos, eroded revenue and earnings and led to consolidation. Bharti Airtel considers 5G spectrum prices exorbitant, CEO for India Gopal Vittal said on an earnings call last week.“We’ve made it clear that for 3.5 GHz spectrum, the reserve prices indicated by Trai in the ballpark of Rs 50,000-55,000 crore for 100 MHz are prices we can’t afford and they’re exorbitant. We would hope that the government brings down prices of spectrum and that is when we would look seriously at 5G,” he said.