Spectrum caps should go

Govt needs to ease telecom regulations

Vodafone and Idea Cellular, which are in merger talks, are reportedly planning to ask the Department of Telecommunications to relax the ceilings on spectrum ownership because consolidation in the sector has rendered them irrelevant. There is serious merit in the argument. Under the current rules, a single telecom network cannot own more than 50 per cent of the wavelengths in a single band and 25 per cent of all the wavelengths in a circle. If their talks fructify, the Vodafone-Idea combine would have to surrender to the government spectrum in a handful of sectors as these ceilings will be breached.