The Telecom Commission has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to analyse the potential impact of the 2G spectrum auction price it had proposed earlier.
As part of its recommendations on the auction of 2G spectrum, TRAI had recommended a base price of Rs 36.22 billion per megahertz (MHz) for pan-India spectrum in the 1800 MHz band. This figure is almost 10 times higher than the price at which 2G licences bundled with 4.4 MHz spectrum were allocated in 2008.
TRAI had also recommended that the price of spectrum in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands should be double the price of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band.
However, the industry reacted very strongly to these recommendations. Thereafter, the Telecom Commission asked TRAI to review the impact of the high 2G spectrum reserve price on industry players. The Telecom Commission is of the view that a detailed analysis of the impact of the proposed auction price on call tariffs and carriers? investments is required, before it takes a final decision on the recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Telecom Commission has agreed to TRAI?s recommendation to conduct an auction of the airwaves in the 900 MHz band by June 2013. The Commission is yet to decide on the price and other details for the band. The second round of 2G spectrum auctions is to take place by August 2012.
