Telecom Commission to meet on Trai response to spectrum issues

NEW DELHI: Telecom Commission, the decision making body of the Department of Telecom (DoT), will meet on November 28 to decide on regulator Trai's response on Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework.

Earlier this month, Trai had sent back its recommendation to DoT which had sought clarifications from the regulator before finalising the National Telecom Policy 2011.

Trai had stood by the recommendation of over 6-fold jump in the 2G spectrum price.

With regard to one-time charge for additional spectrum beyond the contracted limit of 6.2 MhZ, Trai left it to the government to take a decision.

Earlier this year, Trai had said that each Mhz of additional spectrum, after the 6.2 MHz limit held by operators, should have one-time cost of Rs 4,571.87 crore for all of India.

However, from circle to circle, it would vary and the operators would have to pay only for those areas where they hold extra spectrum.

Trai recommended that all licencees would have to pay for spectrum at the current price at the time of renewal of licences, or else at price to be discovered through auction or any other market-driven mechanism.

The regulator, however, recommended some relief by suggesting a uniform licence fee of 6 per cent -- to be achieved over the next four years -- of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR.)

To ensure a level-playing field among operators, Trai had recommended that if an entity, post a merger or acquisition, commands up to 35 per cent market share, it would be considered in 'green line' or safe harbour.

Above that but less than 60 per cent would be referred to Trai for its recommendation. The regulator would carry out a detailed examination to ensure that there is no abuse of market dominance.

If an entity ends up having over 60 per cent market share, Trai will not consider that M&A.

On the issue of identifying additional spectrum, Trai had said it is separately initiating an exercise to review the usage of radio waves available with the government agencies.

On the exit policy, Trai said it would initiate a consultation process and forward its recommendations to the government in due course.