In a move to pave the way for merger and acquisitions in the telecom sector, the Government on Friday said that spectrum sharing and trading norms have almost been finalised at the department level and cabinet note has been circulated in this regard. The Cabinet is likely to approve it by month end, a senior Government official told the reporters at an event organised by FICCI.
Speaking at the event, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg said, "The spectrum sharing and trading guidelines have almost been finalised at the department level and Cabinet note has been circulated and the cabinet is likely to approve it by month end."
Garg, however, said, "This will consolidate spectrum and help both telecom operators and subscribers. Spectrum sharing guidelines will allow telecom companies to share their un-utilised airwaves with other service providers in the same telecom circle."
Department of Telecom had, in April, sought clarifications from sectoral regulator TRAI regarding spectrum-sharing and trading guidelines. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had reiterated its stand on most of the recommendations on spectrum-sharing and trading guidelines, while clarifying that radiowaves acquired through trading can also be shared. It also stood by recommendations of allowing operators to share all spectrum including 3G.
The regulator also recommended allowing the trading of spectrum. As of now, only Government is allowed to allocate spectrum to telecom firms through auctions. Once trading is allowed, it is expected to increase efficient use of radiowaves by enabling telecom operators, who have a lower subscriber base or un-utilised spectrum to trade in it.
As a part of the Digital India Week, industry body FICCI, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications & IT, hosted a CEOs' roundtable on Friday. The theme of the roundtable was 'Investment in the NexGen Digital Infrastructure'. Addressing the event, Union Minister of Communications & IT Shankar Prasad said, "We are very happy that the Digital India Week was a success and we are expecting to make it a big success pan India in near future."
Earlier in the day at BSNl, the Telecom Minister also inaugurated the wallet service which will help facilitate easy money transfer, payment services as well as withdrawal of cash of up to Rs1 lakh.