The Hindu Business Line : DoT told to review 2G spectrum allocation policy

New Delhi, Feb. 10 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has told the Government that it may be difficult to continue with the subscriber-linked spectrum allocation for 2G mobile services given that frequencies for 3G will be auctioned.

The regulator has said that since it will be difficult to differentiate subscribers based on technology, it may not be possible to determine the actual user base exclusively on the 2G network for the purpose of allocating spectrum.

Currently, the Government has set a subscriber-based milestone for operators to become eligible for additional spectrum. But with 3G frequencies being auctioned, an operator may end up having both types of spectrum and at the same time follow different allocation rules.

Allocation criteria

“The successful bidder of 3G spectrum will not require following the subscriber base criteria for additional spectrum. However, the additional spectrum for 2G services is given on subscriber based criteria. For a service provider having 2G and 3G services, it would be difficult to separate the subscribers for 2G and 3G spectrum. In this case, it will be difficult to allot additional spectrum 2G band to such a service provider on the subscriber base criteria,” the regulator said in the recommendation to DoT.

The TRAI has suggested that the issue should be examined by the committee which has been set up by the Department of Telecom to sort out the spectrum allocation criteria.

The issue of spectrum allocation based on subscriber base has been hanging fire since 2007 when the Government decided to increase the number of users required for a mobile operator to get additional spectrum.

While a section of the industry has been pushing for auction for additional spectrum allocation, new players want at least 6.2 Mhz spectrum given to them first.