The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued recommendations on the guidelines on spectrum sharing. As per the recommendations, telecom operators will be allowed to share all spectrum in all frequency bands (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz), provided that both the licensees have spectrum in the same frequency band.
The guidelines state that if the licensees are sharing spectrum assigned through the auctions, or for which the prescribed market price has been paid, they will be allowed to offer telecom services using all the wireless technologies. However, operators sharing spectrum allocated through administrative process will be allowed to offer only select services.
TRAI has further suggested that 50 per cent of the shared spectrum will be added to the service provider?s total spectrum holdings. This will be used for the purpose of applying the prescribed limits of 25 per cent of the total spectrum held in a circle and 50 per cent of the total airwaves allotted in a specific band.
Further, TRAI has suggested an increase of 0.5 per cent in the spectrum usage charge of the licensees post sharing of spectrum.
