Panel against spectrum auction for captive users

NEW DELHI: A panel on Unified Licence (UL) rules has said that India should continue with its practice to allot, instead of auction, spectrum to captive users such as government departments, airlines and ports, though the pricing formula may be reviewed every three years.

Captive, or non-commercial users, include central and state government departments, defence and paramilitary forces, disaster management organisations, airport authority, airlines, ports and ships. They require limited spectrum for specific geographies on sporadic demand.

The committee, in a draft report seen by ET, offered two options to price airwaves for captive users – linked with consumer price index where an upfront charge can be levied in addition to spectrum usage charge or linked with market discovered pricing – indicating that costs for noncommercial usage may rise in the future.