The Hindu Business Line : GSM players want equal base price

New Delhi, Sept. 12 GSM operators have opposed Government’s decision to allow lower base price for auctioning WiMax spectrum. The move comes after the Department of Telecom changed its earlier decision to allow operators using wireless broadband technologies such as WiMax to offer both data and voice services.

While the guidelines announced earlier had specified that spectrum for broadband wireless can be used for data services, the DoT has taken a decision to remove the restriction. While the guidelines announced earlier had specified the base price to be 25 per cent of the reserve price for third generation (3G) mobile services, the DoT decided that the fee should be at least 50 per cent. This means that operators interested to bid for WiMax spectrum will have to offer a minimum of Rs 1,010 crore for a pan-India licence compared to Rs 2,020 crore for 3G players. Existing GSM players have shot off a letter to the Government seeking a review. They said that either WiMax players should not be allowed to offer voice services or there should not be any disparity in the reserve price.

However, supporters of WiMax said that the scope of technology should not be limited through regulation. “There should not be any comparison between 3G and WiMax. The Government laws should be governed by what benefits consumers ,” said WiMax Forum

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