Cellular operators 'shocked' at TRAI's recommendations

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SME Times News Bureau | 15 May, 2012
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Monday said it was "shocked" and "aghast" at the regulator's move to largely stick on to its proposals on spectrum auction while referring back to the department of telecom (DoT).

The DoT had asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to review the recommendations it gave on the spectrum auction, in response to which TRAI retained its proposals on high reserve price for spectrum auction despite staunch criticism from the industry.

"We are shocked and aghast at the continued indifference being exhibited by TRAI towards the industry's plea for consumer interest and sustainability of this sector," COAI said Monday in a statement.

"TRAI has blatantly ignored the industry representations and in its response to DoT on the clarifications sought on the recommended reserve price for auction of spectrum, has suggested otherwise to further burden the sector with its erroneous and unfair recommendations in the matter," it added.

COAI also said that this will have serious public interest and public policy impacts and hence would be detrimental to the interests of the consumers and the nation and would be the nail in the coffin for the already struggling industry.

On the issue of high reserve price and its impact on affordability, it said that while the industry was already concerned with the erratic and irrational high reserve prices, TRAI has on the contrary suggested an increase in the spectrum usage charge from 1 percent to 3 percent.

"It seems that the regulator is in a complete state of denial and has adamantly chosen to avoid the clarifications issued by the industry and continues to rely on fallacious assumptions to arrive at an erroneous conclusion that the high reserve price will have no impact on affordability of service," COAI said.

Uninor, the joint venture between Norway's Telenor and India-based Unitech, also said: "As earlier, we believe this is not the auction that the court ordered. An opportunity has been missed to correct the flaws, place all cancelled spectrum into the auctions and invite operators to win back their licenses."

The regulator in its response to DoT has said that the reserve price has been finalised in the context of the recommendation to liberalise the spectrum which means essentially to remove technology restrictions to use of new access technologies within the same band or bands.

This will enable the operators to choose any technology in the spectrum bands held by them. Eliminating constraints associated with spectrum usage is expected to greatly enhance the value of the spectrum to the operators.