The department of telecommunications (DoT) has decided to set up an internal committee to look into mobile firms’ concerns over the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) proposals, including levying a one-time fee on 2G radio spectrum.
The development comes in the wake of a meeting between the telecom operators and the communications & IT minister, A Raja.
The Trai had announced a string of recommendations on allocation of 2G spectrum and mergers & acquisitions in May, which attracted severe censure from almost all telecom operators. The issue will now be resolved by the empowered group of ministers headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. This is the same eGoM which solved the 3G spectrum issue.
The Trai recommendations called for the operators to pay a one-time fee for high-bandwidth 2G radio-spectrum that they won several years ago based on the recently-determined 3G spectrum price.
Incumbent telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar went ahead and branded the recommendations perverse and retrograde. The proposed fee for spectrum beyond the contracted 6.2 Mhz would cost top mobile firm Bharti Airtel Rs 4,000crore, while Vodafone Essar would have to pay Rs 1,400 crore according to the companies’ estimates.
The panel will finalise views on the regulator’s proposals and refer them to the Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body within the ministry.