The Telecom Commission has finally reached a decision on spectrum caps, agreeing to TRAI’s recommendations on the issue in-principle. The news should come as a relief for network operators who are seeking more bandwidth to prevent congestion.
The Inter-ministerial Telecom Commission panel includes the likes of the Secretaries from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, DoT, and Finance. It is currently in the process of finalizing its view on spectrum allocation, after which its recommendations will be sent forward to Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Telecom Minister, for final approval.
The spectrum cap refers to the maximum amount of radiowaves a provider can hold in order to offer wireless services. As per the current rules, a player can obtain 50% of a band suitable for providing mobile signals and 25% of the total such airwaves within a telecom circle in India.
While TRAI doesn’t think this formula should be changed in any way, it believes that any unallocated spectrum should also be taken into consideration when deciding the limit. If approved, the regulation would allow companies to widen its capacity and decongest its network. Telecom industry experts told PTI that the move will also help in market consolidation.
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They also believe that raising the spectrum cap will allow Bharti Airtel to obtain an extra 5MHz of airwaves in Delhi in either the 1800MHz or 2100MHz bands. Notably, both of these can be used for offering 4G services. That’s in addition to having the freedom to purchase more spectrum for mobile internet in 9 telecom circles including Bihar, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Vodafone and Idea too stand to benefit. The telecom companies could buy up more blocks of spectrum in heavily congested places like Delhi, Mumbai, and Gujarat.