In talks with 3 companies for spectrum trading: Videocon Telecomnunications

Hours after the government approved telecom spectrum trading on Wednesday, Videocon Telecommunications said it is in talks with three service providers for airwaves sharing and trading.

"We are already in active discussions with 3 telecom operators on exploring possibilities around spectrum sharing and spectrum trading, and now with the announcement of spectrum trading policy, the discussion will gain momentum and soon we will conclude the pact(s)," Videocon Telecommunications director and CEO Arvind Bali said in a statement.

"Now with the announcement of spectrum trading policy, the entire roadmap gets clear with already announced spectrum sharing and merger and acquisition policies. This will make decision making between operators very quick and soon we will see telcos signing pacts," he added.

India on Wednesday approved the much-awaited norms for telecom companies to trade in radio frequency spectrum in a move that can go long way in consolidating this scarce resource, improve the quality of service and even fetch revenues for airwave-surplus companies.

The move comes against the backdrop of another related decision taken last month -- on spectrum sharing. Under these guidelines, companies in an area with the same band of spectrum could pool this active infrastructure.

The need was expressed since India allows spectrum to be assigned for 20 years, during which some operators are able to acquire the requisite number of subscribers to justify their holding, while others are saddled with excess resources.