'Ensure 5 players in a circle if spectrum given with licence'

NEW DELHI: The country's largest state-run telecom firm, BSNL, has favoured a no-cap policy on the number of players in a service area but said if spectrum and licences are bundled together, as is the current practice, then there should be minimum 5 players to ensure fair competition.

The country's largest GSM player, Berti Airtel, wants minimum number of telecom operators, including BSNL/MTNL, in a given service area should not less than four.

The PSU, which is in full support of delinking spectrum from the Unified Access System (UAS), said, "If it is decided not to delink spectrum from UAS licence, the regulatory and licensing environment must ensure that there are at least five access service providers in each service area to ensure fair and adequate competition.

"However, there should not be any limit or cap on the maximum number of access service providers, which may be left to be determined by the market forces and availability of adequate spectrum," it said in response to TRAI on 'overall spectrum management and review of licence terms and conditions.

The PSU has said UAS licence should be delinked from the spectrum with immediate effect, which is in line with the recommendations given by the Authority from time to time and a DoT panel has also recommended the same.