Trai consultation paper on spectrum holding soon

NEW DELHI: The telecom regulator is readying to issue a consultation paper by the end of this month on easing rules governing spectrum holding caps, which, if relaxed, may ease the process of mergers and acquisitions. “Yes, we will do it quickly. We have the reference from the telecom department,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman RS Sharma said on Monday, when asked whether the paper would be issued by the end of October.

Trai’s move will follow a reference from the Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body of the communications ministry, which had agreed with an inter-ministerial group looking at the financial stress in the sector that any relaxation in spectrum that companies can hold in a band be done by the regulator after consultation with carriers. According to the prevalent rules, an operator can hold a maximum 25% of the total spectrum allotted in a circle and up to 50% of the airwaves allotted in any one bandwidth.

A telecom department official had earlier told ET that relaxing the spectrum holding limits by removing the intra-band cap of 50% while retaining the 25% overall ceiling would have amounted to short-changing those carriers that had bought airwaves in previous auctions and based their bids on rules in force since February 2014. The move would be better received if it were done at a policy level, the official had said.