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The department of telecommunications has sought approval from the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom to treat spectrum as tangible security. This would enable telecom operators to use spectrum as collateral for raising funds.
However, any decision on this is unlikely soon as a new EGoM would be formed after the new Government takes over.
The DoT has noted there should be a tripartite agreement between the DoT, the lender and the telecom operator which would be borrowing to ensure that the interest of the lender is taken care of.
If the borrower defaults, the lender would have the rights to sell or transfer or assign exchange the spectrum. Earlier, the DoT and the department of economic affairs have proposed to add spectrum in the harmonised list of infrastructure as spectrum qualifies for the infrastructure criteria.
The development came in the wake of repeated requests from telecom operators who have acquired spectrum from auctions in the past.
The government had earlier said that spectrum being government property, it cannot be used as an asset for raising funds. The Cabinet Committee had in May 2012 approved the harmonised master list of infrastructure in order to facilitate a coordinated approach among agencies providing support to infrastructure.
