By IANS
New Delhi : Indian GSM cellular operators Thursday told the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that they were in “strong disagreement” with the telecom regulator’s recommendations on the number of service providers, spectrum allocation and merger and acquisition norms.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month sent a set of recommendations to the DoT in which it said there should be no limit on the number of operators in a particular network as that would enhance the competition between the operators and they would provide better quality of service.
Terming this move as “fundamental disconnect”, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a leading GSM body, said this would aggravate the problem of the availability of airwaves or spectrum, as known in telecom parlance, more due to its scarcity.
“It is clear to all that there is a fundamental disconnect between a finite resource on one hand and a policy of open and unlimited competition on the other. This disconnect which has been recognized by TRAI on several earlier occasions, has been disregarded in the present instance,” COAI said in a letter to DoT Secretary D.S. Mathur.
The telecom watchdog had also said the allocation of spectrum, which is vital for the development of any telecom operator, would be based on the subscriber base and should be done through a certain auctioning process in future to ensure optimum and effective utilisation.
“The first priority in allocation of spectrum must necessarily be given to existing GSM licensees (whether for initial allotment or for additional allotment) on the basis of the subscriber link criteria of the government and strictly on a first-come-first-serve basis, based on the date of application for spectrum,” COAI said.
On the issue of the pricing of the spectrum, COAI said: “The recommendation that there should be a one time fee on a per MHz basis for spectrum allotments beyond 10 MHz is not only legally untenable but is also without any basis or justification.”
It said the TRAI’s suggestions on limiting the market share of a merged entity to 40 percent is “flawed and incorrect, as it will not facilitate any meaningful consolidation in the market.”
COAI said in case of a merger between a GSM and a CDMA operator, the new entity formed should be allowed to retain the spectrum of both the technologies for its growth and development.