Panel to study options to spectrum auction: Milind Deora

NEW DELHI: The government has set up a committee to examine the conditions for allotment of airwaves through routes other than auction, minister of state for telecommunications, Milind Deora, said Wednesday.

The DoT panel will examine various issues related to allotment and pricing of spectrum, "including conditions which need to be satisfied in order to adopt auction as the preferred/sole mode of allotment of spectrum, conditions and types of spectrum for which administrative allotment of spectrum should be adopted as the norm", Deora, also the IT minister, told members of the Lok Sabha.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal had earlier said that adopting auction route every time for allocating spectrum "does not make sense" and that the Cabinet would decide on the issue based on the committee's report.

ET had earlier reported that DoT was putting in place an 'expanded committee' to look into methodology of pricing and allotment of spectrum through other methods apart from auction.

The paper had also reported that the expanded committee looking into administrative allocation had recommended that captive users of airwaves such as government departments, airlines and ports may have to give an undertaking that the government is free to switch to a market-discovered pricing method in the future for using these airwaves.

It had also recommended that such a condition be incorporated in the licence agreement for captive and satellite usage, and proposed periodic review of such allotments. DoT intends to define the concept, operational parameters and conditions for giving away spectrum through a market-related process besides discovering the spectrum price through auctions.

Administrative allotment of spectrum assumes significance since the last rounds of auction was met with lacklustre affairs as carriers stayed away, citing high reserved price of airwaves.

An inter-ministerial panel tasked with mapping out the details of third round of spectrum auction asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to recommend reserve price.