)
The department of telecommunications (DoT) plans to auction spectrum in the 2,100-MHz band in February along with the 800, 900 and 1,800-MHz bands. The DoT asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on November 27 to recommend the reserve price of the 2,100-MHz band.
The Trai on Tuesday floated a consultation paper on valuation of the band. After comments from stakeholders, the regulator will provide its recommendations on the base price.
“The DoT requested the Trai to expedite the process for its recommendations on the reserve price of the 2,100 -Mhz band and related issues so that auction of spectrum in this band could be conducted along with spectrum in the 800/900/1,800 MHz bands scheduled in February 2015,” stated Trai.
| SPECTRUM STORY |
|
There were doubts regarding the 2,100-MHz band because the DoT had earlier said there was no indication from the defence forces on vacation of spectrum. However, the issue seemed to have been resolved after Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar met last month. Both the ministries are believed to have sorted the issue.
The industry has long been asking for additional spectrum for commercial use and has been asking the Government to auction 2,100MHz band of radiowaves. The main point of contention was a plan that the defence ministry would give 15 MHz of spectrum in the 2,100 MHz band in return for the same amount in the 1,900 band, which was with the DoT and had been reserved for providing spectrum to CDMA operators for expansion. Earlier, the two ministries had agreed the spectrum in the 1,700-2,000-MHz band would be equally divided between the two, each getting 150 MHz.
With the move, telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafane, Idea and Reliance Communications, which had feared a shortage of spectrum would lead to cut-throat competition and raise auction prices, can breathe easy.
Trai, in a statement, said stakeholders can send their comments regarding 2100 Mhz band auction by December 15 and counter-comments by December 19. Last week, Trai has reiterated its recommendations for 900 and 1800MHz bands while it has increased the base price by 15 per cent for 800MHz band.
The DoT has estimated that the next round of spectrum auction, scheduled in February, will add at least Rs 9,355 crore from sale of spectrum. As per estimates, auction of spectrum in 2100 Mhz band in February can fetch bids worth at least Rs 5,000 crore.
