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Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept. 19 The Government is examining the possibility of allowing telecom operators to share spectrum with each other. The move will benefit new and foreign players as sharing spectrum will enable them to roll out their network faster.

When asked about allowing spectrum sharing, the Minister of State for Communications, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, said, “Spectrum sharing is being discussed. Hopefully in the next month or two, we would see some sort of process coming out of that.”

If the Government does allow sharing of spectrum then it will be a huge boost to the operators especially those who win the 3G spectrum.

According to the policy announced, 3G spectrum will be auctioned circle wise and that could result in a situation wherein a single operator may not win spectrum in all areas of the country. If sharing is not allowed then it may create pockets of 3G services belonging to individual operators. This will put consumers at a disadvantage, especially while roaming.

Spectrum sharing will also allow new 2G players to give out excess capacity to another player. It may result in the creation of a spectrum exchange wherein operators can trade in bandwidth real time online.

This may also open up the sector for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) who offer mobile services without owning the infrastructure or spectrum. As of now the telecom regulator has not allowed MVNOs to hire out spectrum from licences telecom players. But if DoT were to allow sharing then it would make MVNOs business case stronger.

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