Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Tele seeking spectrum liberalisation: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The government has approved the liberalised use of spectrum in 800 Mhz band for Reliance Communications in 16 LSAs

Apart from Reliance Communications, telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Teleservices have applied for spectrum liberalisation in select areas, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"Reliance Communications (RCL) and Tata Teleservices have applied for liberalisation of spectrum in 800 Mhz band in 20 licensed service areas (LSAs) and 2 LSAs, respectively," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Mobile Services have applied for liberalisation of spectrum in 1,800 Mhz in one LSA each," he added.

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The spectrum liberalisation will enable companies to use it for providing any type of mobile services, like 3G and 4G services, and enter into agreements like spectrum sharing and trading, thus reducing cost of radiowave ownership.

"The government has approved the liberalised use of spectrum in 800 Mhz band for RCL in 16 LSAs. The request of RCL in remaining 4 LSAs and requests of other service providers are under consideration," Prasad said.

Telecom operators which were allocated spectrum before auctions were held in 2010 are required to pay market-determined rate to liberalise spectrum.