The Hindu Business Line : DoT can go for global auction for 3G: TRAI

New Delhi, July 10 Paving the way for the Ministry of Communication to go for an open global auction for third generation mobile services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has taken a view that it will not block the move any more.

A top ranking official in TRAI told Business Line, “The Department of Telecom has followed all the procedures as laid down in the law and therefore they can go ahead with an open auction for 3G if they want to.”

TRAI had earlier told DoT that 3G auction should be restricted to existing operators on the grounds that new players would find it difficult to roll out services quickly. TRAI had argued that the existing players were best placed to roll out 3G services at affordable rates given that they already had a full fledged operations running.

The regulator had said that bringing in new players for 3G could create complications as more than 300 applications are awaiting DoT clearance for new unified telecom licences. In separate letters, the telecom regulator had cautioned DoT that any move to create a new license category to accommodate new operators for 3G segment could be illegal. TRAI had also written to the Finance Ministry explaining its position on the issue. However, the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Law and the Finance Ministry are in favour of an open auction.

No change in views

Though TRAI’s views on the issue have not changed, it has decided not to pursue the matter any more. According to the TRAI Act, DoT is free to take a decision after it has referred a proposal to the regulator twice. In this case too, DoT has sent back the proposal to the regulator twice to meet the legal requirement before announcing the policy.

TRAI’s stance spells relief to foreign and new players as they will now be able to participate in the auction with certainty.

Meanwhile, DoT has also referred the issue of pricing and the modalities related to 3G spectrum auction back to the telecom regulator. DoT wants to increase the base price for the auction from what was earlier recommended by the regulator. TRAI is expected to give its recommendations on these issues by the end of the week.

The differences between DoT and TRAI have forced the Government to hold back the 3G policy announcement for more than 3 months. But now with TRAI deciding to put the issue to rest, DoT may kickstart the auction process shortly.