COAI seeks DoT's intervention in 800 MHz band

Says that the proposed auction-determined price can't be used for liberalization of 800 Mhz band in 12 telecom service areas

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has sought intervention of the department of telecommunications to correct anomalies in the 800MHz band holding. Besides, the pricing or the 800MHz band discovered in March 2015 auction couldn't be used as market-determined price for liberalized spectrum in circles where airwaves were less than 5MHz.

In a letter to telecom secretary Rakesh Garg, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said that the proposed auction-determined price can’t be used for liberalisation of 800 MHz band in 12 telecom service areas.

One of its member operators has a divergent view on the matter, the letter said.

The quantum of spectrum auctioned was less than 5MHz in 12 circles, which could not be used for deploying newer technologies like 3G and LTE which is why spectrum can't be put on liberalized use. Also, the average allocation in 800Mhz band was around 14 MHz per service area with spectrum cap at around 72 per cent which is higher when compared to other spectrum bands that come to only 50 per cent.

The license addendum norms dated issued by the department November 26, 2013, Mathews said clearly mentioned a cap of 50 per cent in a band for access services and in GSM, CDMA, 3G and BWA bands.