Telcos to challenge TRAI plan to raise base for extra spectrum

NEW DELHI: Cellular operators have decided to challenge the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI’s) recommendations that the subscriber base-linked spectrum allocation be enhanced by several multiples.

Industry sources confirmed that the operators were gearing up to prove to both the department of telecom (DoT) and the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) that increasing the subscriber base criteria ‘arbitrarily’ for additional spectrum allocation was ‘scientifically incorrect and technically flawed’.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all operators using the GSM platform, is expected to make a formal announcement challenging the regulator’s recommendations on this issue within the next couple of days.

TRAI in its recommendations on review of licence conditions and capping the number of access providers had said that the minimum subscriber base that operators should have before they are granted additional spectrum be increased between two to six times.

For instance, under the existing policy, a GSM player in Delhi and Mumbai must have a minimum of 0.6 million subscribers to be eligible for 8 MHz of spectrum, one million for 10 MHz, 1.6 million users for 12.4 MHz and 2.1 million customers before being awarded 15 MHz of spectrum.

TRAI had recommended that as an interim measure, this be raised to 1.5 million for 8 MHz, two million for 10 MHz, three million for 12.4 MHz and five million for 15 MHz for GSM players. The minimum subscriber has also been raised on a similar scale for CDMA players.

Similarly, TRAI had also recommended multiple scale increases to the pre-defined subscriber levels for other metros of Chennai and Kolkata, Category A, B and C circles, before operators could get additional spectrum.

“We will be making presentations to both the DoT and the TEC on this issue. We want to prove that the tightening of subscriber-linked criteria by more than 4-5 times is completely arbitrary and not backed by any scientific and technical logic,” a top executive of one of the leading operators told ET.

The executive also added that while all operators favoured the tightening of spectrum allocation norms, it was the methodology and the numbers put out by TRAI is being questioned. An executive with another leading operator said that it would also be brought to the government’s notice that the calculations revealed by TRAI and the figures in its recommendations did not match.

Meanwhile, as reported first by ET, the DoT will await for TEC’s report on efficient utilisation of spectrum before taking any view on enhancing the subscriber-linked criteria as recommended by TRAI.

While smaller players such as Spice, Aircel and Idea Cellular want tightening of spectrum allocation norms as this would ensure that existing operators are not entitled to additional spectrum when radio frequencies are made available and thus allow them to launch operations in new circles, sources said that these operators too preferred the minimum subscriber base to be calculated on a scientific basis after due consultations with all operators.

At the same time, it is also learnt that a section of the GSM operators are also examining the possibility of moving the telecom Tribunal over the fact that TRAI had issued recommendations on revising the subscriber based allocation criteria despite this issue not being part of the consultation process.

These operators also share the view that the DoT cannot accept these recommendations as the latter, when referring the issue to TRAI had not sought proposals with regard to changes in the subscriber-linked spectrum allocation policy.