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Incumbent GSM operators Vodafone Essar and Bharti Airtel came out strongly opposing the proposed formula by the TRAI to charge more for 2G spectrum.
“The recommendations by TRAI go against the stated principle of the Government to offer affordability, fairness and level playing field. For 2G spectrum pricing, TRAI while moving away from its earlier arbitrarily linked 3G pricing levels, has now in many cases gone beyond 3G values.
“This goes against Telecom Minister's acknowledged position that 3G is significantly more efficient than 2G and services must remain affordable for the masses,” said Bharti Airtel.
Inconsistency
The operator said there seem to be huge inconsistency in terms of the differences of prices in various circles. For instance, up to 6.2MHz the price vis-à-vis 3G prices range from a low of 16 per cent to a high of 208 per cent while beyond 6.2MHz, it ranges from a low of 24 per cent to a high of 868 per cent.
“We fail to understand the reason for linking the auction price only to spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz. The price discovered through a fair and open auction must apply to all spectrum allocations,” Bharti said.
The operator's statement came even as Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, told a TV news channel that he was broadly in agreement with TRAI's pricing scheme but the final decision will be taken after it is vetted by the Telecom Commission.
Favours dual tech
Mr Martin Pieters, CEO, Vodafone Essar said, “The recommendations do not rectify the completely illogical difference in the treatment of spectrum given to GSM operators and to Dual Technology operators. Although the latter have between 10 and 40 per cent more spectrum than Vodafone, the new TRAI recommendations suggest that they will pay insignificant amounts as one-time spectrum fees while the incumbent GSM operators will have to pay thousands of crores rupees as a one-time spectrum fee.”
“The discriminatory nature of the TRAI recommendations is shockingly clear: only the older GSM operators (who paid thousands of crores in ongoing and escalating spectrum charges over the last ten years and continue to pay far more than dual technology or new operators) are being punished for building the Indian communications industry, rolling out into rural areas and for choosing the right technology,” Mr Pieters added.
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