CDMA cos against auction of radio waves beyond 4.4 Mhz

The CDMA operators have urged a government panel, currently working on spectrum allocation and pricing suggestions, not to propose auction of radio waves beyond the initial 4.4 Mhz.

The CDMA players’ body, AUSPI, in a letter to DoT Additonal Secretary and Chairman of the panel Subodh Kumar said any recommendation that allocates spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz through auctions would just not be legally tenable, apart from being against earlier policies of DoT and recommendation of TRAI.

As per various judgements, UAS licencees have a vested right to 6.2 MHz of spectrum, and that auctioning for 2G spectrum was possible, the letter said. AUSPI also asked DoT to get tough on operators for not using spectrum-efficient technologies.

The association also demanded for and availability of spectrum or instituting reward mechanisms, for efficient use of spectrum would have hurt the interests of operators, who use old and inefficient technologies or who hoard spectrum.

It also asked the Government not to impose any flat fee on all the operators.