The Hindu Business Line : ‘TRAI views on dual tech not taken in totality’

New Delhi, Dec. 17 GSM-based mobile operators on Monday said that the Department of Telecom had not implemented the recommendations of the telecom regulator on dual technology in totality.

They said that while DoT had permitted dual technology, it had not accepted TRAI’s suggestion that spectrum charges should be imposed on the total quantum of radio waves with the operator including both GSM and CDMA bands.

GSM operators’ stance

GSM operators’ comments follows a letter from DoT to the Finance Ministry that the policy on dual technology was based on the recommendations of TRAI.

They pointed out that while TRAI had said that a licensee using one technology may be permitted allocation of dual spectrum, it had set Rs 1,650 crore as the floor price.

The regulator had also said that the revenue share should be based on the combined annual gross revenue of both the technologies.

“The DoT statement that TRAI has not recommended any change in entry fee is factually incorrect. TRAI underlined that the annual gross revenue will be the combined revenue of both the technologies. It has clearly distinguished between a new Unified Access Service licence, and allocation of dual spectrum under existing licence. By reducing the annual gross revenue as if these were two separate licences, and by equating entry fee to a new licence, the DoT has de-facto made the dual technology a second licence,” said a GSM operator.

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