A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) committee, established to recommend rules for pricing of all natural resources, has said that all future allocations of airwaves must be through the auction process. The panel, headed by former finance secretary Ashok Chawla, in its draft report, has also recommended spectrum trading to be permitted amongst operators.
The committee was also of the view that the price discovered though market mechanisms could be used to calculate the charges payable by legacy users. Further, the panel recommended DoT?s Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing be made an autonomous agency.
Currently, 2G spectrum had been given to operators based on their customer numbers, while 3G spectrum had been auctioned in 2010. The allotment of 2G airwaves has been on hold for the past two years on the grounds that the communication ministry is yet to finalise a new methodology for awarding these airwaves.
Endorsing DoT?s recent stance, the Chawla committee has also called for delinking the allocation of telecom licences from mobile spectrum. Currently, mobile permits come bundled with start-up airwaves. It has also called for all airwaves to be identified and then be clearly demarcated into commercial and no-commercial, primarily for defense and public security.
The panel also wants spectrum to be re-allocated based on the number of actual users and the report also adds that if the roadmap for the future release of spectrum through auctions were made available, it would temper bids in future auctions.
