Spectrum sharing on agenda of Telecom Commission's first meet under new Govt

In its first meeting under the new Government, the Telecom Commission is likely to discuss the much awaited issue of sharing of spectrum among many other things including full mobile number portability, mobile services in areas affected by left wing extremism, usage of the universal service obligation fund for certain projects, among others.

The meeting is scheduled on June 13. The Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making authority under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has not held a meeting for quite a few months. If the Telecom Commission decides to allow sharing of spectrum among operators, this will ensure optimum usage of the scarce natural resource, and will also be helpful for smaller operators to monetise their spectrum. According to arecent communication, the Telecom Commission is likely to review its earlier decision and will explore possibilities of permitting sharing of spectrum among operators which have spectrum in 2100 MHz band.

The telecom Commission will also take a decision on what operator will need to pay as spectrum usage charges(SUC) after sharing of radio waves among themselves. According to the communication, the Telecom Commission will not change the logic of affecting auction, and will ensure that operators do not get spectrum through any indirect method where spectrum price is not determined by the market.

The DoT had earlier suggested in the draft guidelines for spectrum sharing that operator shaving third-generation (3G) spectrum licences will not be permitted to shares pectrum among themselves. The DoT had also noted that permission for sharing of spectrum will be given for a period of five years, which can be extended for five more years after the first term.

On the spectrum usage charges (SUC), the draft guidelines stated that the SUC will be levied on both the operators individually for the total 2G spectrum held by both the operators together. This means, if an operator X having 4.4MHz of spectrum shares 4.4MHz of another operator Y, then both X and Y will be liable to pay SUC on 8.8MHz with effect from the date of the permission of spectrum sharing.

The issue of permitting sharing of 3G spectrum came after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order on April 29 that permitted 3G intra-circle roaming (ICR). Operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have been offering 3G services through 3G ICR agreements among themselves even in circles where they do not have required spectrum. The DoT had barred this, andoperators took legal steps.Meanwhile, theDoT is still looking into legalities of moving the Supreme Court against the TDSAT order on 3G ICR.

A decision on this is yet to be taken. TelecomCommission is formed with representatives from the Finance Ministry, the Planning Commission, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)and the Department of Telecom, among others. The Telecom Commission will also take a decision on if the Government needs to incorporate a condition on Bank Guarantee against one-time fee, as the issue of one-timefee is sub-judice.

The Telecom Commission will also discuss the recommendations of the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on full mobile number portability. It will also discuss the project of establishing the Government User network over the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) which would connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband services by September, 2015.

However, the agenda of the Telecom Commission does not include other important issues like auction of 800 MHz spectrum, which is currently used by the CDMA operators, and trading of spectrum.