Telecom regulator Trai on Monday said it will come up with its recommendations on spectrum pricing for the next round of auction by mid-January. “We have open house discussions on January 4. After that we should be able to give recommendation very soon. Hopefully by mid-January,” Trai Chairman RS Sharma told PTI.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has floated a consultation paper on reference made by the Government to suggest the base or floor price for all available airwaves for mobile services. The Government had pegged a revenue of Rs 42,865.62 crore from communication services that include upfront realisation from spectrum sale and licence fee for the current fiscal. According to official source, the Government may not be able to commence spectrum auction in current financial year as there are various processes involved and main procedures will start after Trai submits its suggestions on the pricing. Trai is making effort to expedite the process.
The regulator, which started the consultation process last month, said it has issued a paper "to save time" despite non-receipt of complete information on auction from the Department of Telecom (DoT).
Official sources, however, said that delay in spectrum auction this fiscal is unlikely to impact projected revenue from telecom services for this fiscal.
The deadline for comments on this consultation process ends on Monday and people can submit counter comment by December 28. Trai has sough public view on price of spectrum in 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz Bands. According to another Trai official, the regulator is yet to receive inputs from DoT on spectrum cap.