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Trai for allowing telecom operators to share all kinds of airwaves [India Business] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW DELHI: The telecom regulator is likely to propose allowing operators share all kinds of airwaves - including those administratively allotted and liberalising the cap on the spectrum that can be pooled in, recommendations that could help companies better utilize the scarce and pricy resource and consumers get better services. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India doesn't also favour any restrictions on the tenure for operators to share airwaves, according to a draft of the guidelines prepared by the regulator on bandwidth sharing. However, it is likely to have turned down the industry's demand for allowing more than two operators to share their airwaves. Sharing allows operators pool in their spectrum and use it, thereby resulting in optimum use of the most import asset for a telecom company. It provides a new avenue for stronger operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to beef up their bandwidth holdings without having to take part in auctions. For weaker players, sharing of spectrum offers a way to monetise their bandwidth assets. For consumers, this could mean better quality of voice services and faster data speeds, and could translate into lower tariffs as operators' capex could fall, analysts said. But allowing bandwidth sharing could reduce aggressive bidding in spectrum auctions, which could affect government revenue. According to a senior official, the regulator may release the recommendations as early as Monday. It had ratified the proposals late Friday. If the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which issues the final guidelines, doesn't agree with the regulator, it could return the proposals to Trai. ET was the first to report that the regulator would permit spectrum sharing across all bands - be it second, third or fourth generation, allotted at government-set prices on through auctions. DoT in its draft guidelines had proposed that operators be allowed to share airwaves only for five years after which they need fresh approval from the department. As reported by ET earlier, the regulator is likely to recommend that the government charge an additional spectrum usage charge of flat 0.5% on fourth-generation airwaves (2300 Mhz) that are shared, and at least 0.5% on all other bands. On capping the amount of airwaves to be shared, Trai has tried to balance the demand of the industry while ensuring that operators aren't allowed to hoard spectrum, shows the draft, seen by ET. According to DoT's draft guidelines, two operators would be allowed to share spectrum if their total holding didn't exceed 50% of the airwaves allotted in the band and 25% of the total spectrum across all bands in a telecom circle. Trai recommendations say only half of the other operator's spectrum be counted towards this cap. That means if operator A holds 10 Mhz of spectrum and operator B 6 Mhz, in the event of sharing airwaves, A's total spectrum holding becomes 13 Mhz (10 Mhz of its own and half of B's 6 Mhz) and B's 11 Mhz. These two holdings should individually not breach the 25% and the 50% caps. This suggestion, if DoT accepts it, will allow big operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to share their airwaves with smaller ones like Tata Teleservices and Aircel. The regulator has also permitted sharing of non-auctioned spectrum - airwaves allotted at government-set prices which were much lower than auction prices. In that case, "after sharing, they will be permitted to provide only those services which can be provided through administratively held spectrum", the document shows. Most auctioned spectrum fall under the unified license category, which allows operators to offer any telecom services under a single license. But those with administratively allotted spectrum can offer only services they have the license for. (c) 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |