Calling for expediting the floatation of eGSM band of spectrum which has been in the eye of the storm for long with the matter stuck between the Finance Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the telcom operators , the COAI has called for resolving the issue at the earliest. The Government is accruing loss of revenue due to the unused portion of the 800 Mhz spectrum which is locked up with several telcos.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Rajan Matthews said: “The Government need to earmark spectrum beyond the 800 Mhz as eGSM and auction it at the earliest….particularly in the 850 Mhz upwards frequencies.”
The spectrum band is coveted by big telecom players as it offers a more suitable airwaves for launching 4G services in India. COAI, however, feels that vacating the 700 Mhz bandwidth will be time taking as the Defence Ministry is yet to be allocated an alternative bandwidth to carry out their essential communications services which are of paramount importance.
“The vacation of 700 MHz band however will take a longtime due to a number of complicated issues ….” said Mathews. To add to this, the pricing of the 800 Mhz has yet to be sorted out, as the DoT is considering recommendations on the pricing of the 800 Mhz including that from 800 Mhz.
CDMA players have suggested that the reserve price for the 800 Mhz should be no more than Rs1,816.32 crore per MHz. Telcos hold that the reserve price for the 800 Mhz should be 80 per cent of COAI calls for freeing unused spectrum in 800 Mhz; expediting eGSM 2,270.40 crore per MHz (which is the market discovered price) in the 1800 MHz band - which works out to Rs1,816.32 crore per MHz. TRAI has, meanwhile, said that the 800 Mhz reserve price should be less than that of the 1800 Mhz prices.
Telcos operating in the 800 Mhz band also hold that there has been an undue pressure on the Government from the GSM players to convert part of the 800 Mhz into extended GSM. Telcos have said that there has been an excessive pressure on us to vacate some of the band for the GSM playersy.
Many see this as an indirect armtwisting of the players in the 800 Mhz so that the richer players in the 1800 and 2100 Mhz could enter the technologically superior 800 Mhz spectrum.
As reported earlier, there has also been allegations from various sections of the industry that the GSM players were putting pressure on the DoT to declare the 800 Mhz as a ‘technologically poor bandwidth’ so that they could corner the premium bandwidth at a cheaper price.
Besides the pricing debate, there has also been other contentious issues like that of imposing a uniform spectrum usage charge (SUC) of three per cent recommended by TRAI. On this the DoT committee has suggested that ‘the regulator’s proposal be delinked from the auction of spectrum, for which the current SUC might be used. But the Finance Ministry and the EGoM earlier, had debunked it.
The DoT committee has also suggested a revenue-neutral model wherein it says that a uniform SUC should be determined. And the licence holder should have the freedom to alter the SUC, within the provisions of its licence agreement.’ The DoT has also suggested that the frequent alteration in the rates should be avoided as it affected investor confidence in a big way.