Marten Pieters, CEO, Vodafone Essar has asked the government to reject the Telecom Authority of India?s (TRAI) recommendations on spectrum pricing, according to news reports.
In a statement issued by the company, Pieters said, ?We urge the government to ensure that the fundamental principle of regulatory review is undertaken and that the TRAI recommendations based on this flawed approach are rejected.?
In February 2011, TRAI had recommended a over six-fold jump in 2G spectrum prices and also a one-time charge for excess spectrum held by operators over and above the contracted 6.2 Mhz.
It is believed that Vodafone has commissioned a study prepared by Plum to provide a critique of the approach to valuing frequencies at 1800 MHz proposed in the report produced by four experts for TRAI.
Phillipa Marks of Plum Consulting has referred to the TRAI report on the valuation of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band as “fundamentally flawed, contains basic errors and estimates contained in the report cannot be relied upon.”
The study stressed on lack of transparency and incomplete disclosure of models used in the report and said that this was a serious concern that limits the research firms ability to provide a fully informed analysis of the report.
The study added that good practices, like pre-consultation discussions with major players, publishing consultation document covering method, information and results, were not followed by the regulator.
