The main contention of the U.S. is that China will be able to snoop on the countries through the network of 5G mobile phone. Trump administration has already unleashed a war on Huawei, the Chinese handset manufacturer accusing it of spying. The Chinese company vehemently denies that its products which range from hardware to software pose "greater security risks".

The dilemma for the Indian Government is that the U.S. will ratchet up pressure on India not to allow the entry of Chinese FG technology. There are two factors that will weigh heavily on the decision of the Indian Government-- the lower price and tantalising offer of China to give greater access to the Indian products in China.

The Chinese 5G technology is much cheaper than a European or American one. If New Delhi bars the Chinese company from entering its market, the alternative technology will be costlier. Second,  India has got a huge trade imbalance with Beijing and the opening of the Chinese market will help bridge the caning trade gap.

The high price of the spectrum for 5G to be allotted through the auction route has already sent jitters among the major telecoms companies like Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio.  Another deterrent for these companies is the limited availability of airwaves for 5G mobile phones. The various wings of the government like the defence, railways and the departments of space claim a major slice of the limited available spectrum in two bands identified in the request for proposal (RFP).

The appointment of an auctioneer will be decided by next  October 15. It may be mentioned after the scandal of the allotment of the 2G spectrum during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, the Modi Government decided to bring full transparency in the allotment of spectrum through open auction.