DoT to seek Trai view on allocating spectrum to Railways without auction

The 700 MHz band is earmarked for mobile services and allocating it to Indian Railways for non-commercial use may adversely impact levies

The Digital Communications Commission on Tuesday directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to seek views from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the allocation of 700 MHz premium spectrum worth Rs 65,000 crore to the Railways for signalling purposes without auction.

"Indian Railways has asked for 10 MHz of spectrum in 700 MHz band for setting up public safety and security service. The Digital Communications Commission has decided that the DoT should take views of Trai in the matter," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters after the first meeting of the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) this year.

The radio waves