Raja forms 9-member panel to examine Trai report

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has constituted a nine-member internal committee to examine the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on spectrum, even as Telecom Minister A Raja has decided to refer the matter to the EGoM.

The committee would be headed by Chander Prakash, Member (Technology), Telecom Commission, and Wireless Advisor.

It will examine the report on 'Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework' in details and the same would be placed before the Telecom Commission.

The Trai in its report submitted on May 11 suggested charging one-time fee from telecom operators for spectrum held beyond 6.2 MHz. It also recommended limiting the quantum of airwaves to 8 MHz in most of the circles.

Raja has also convened a meeting of all service providers on July 7 to discuss various developments in the sector, with particular reference to Trai's recent report.

Operators have given diverse views on Trai's report, with the incumbent GSM players like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea opposing any move to charge spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz, while CDMA operators like RCom and new players supporting the Trai.

On contentious issues like one-time charge for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz and refarming of spectrum would be referred to an empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Raja also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and had said that a committee would be formed to hold detailed interactions in the DoT to examine the veracity of the recommendations of Trai in the best interest of the country and the service providers.

"Based on these recommendations, the Telecom Commission will deliberate and recommend the final decision to be taken by the government on those issues, which are within the scope and ambit of the Telecom Commission," the Minister had said.

India’s largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel has asserted that spectrum allocation beyond 6.2 MHz is as per the policy of the government at various times and no one-time charge was payable by the service providers.

The DoT has always maintained at various forums and on various occasions that all existing spectrum allocations have been granted strictly under the applicable law/licence conditions/guidelines/orders, Bharti had said in a letter writen recently to Trai Chairman J S Sarma.