New Delhi : Even as the telecom world waited with bated breath for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come out with the recommendations on `limited mobility', the regulatory authority released its recommendations on the issue of fresh licences for Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service (PMRTS), instead.The recommendations, which were issued on Monday, envisage no barriers to the number of players and no entry fee for the new entrants. TRAI has also recommended reducing licence fees, allowing due flexibility in the operations of the service by enlarging the service area, permitting limited inter-connectivity with the PSTN network and enabling the usage of spectrum-efficient digital technology with open protocol."
To exclude non-serious players, TRAI has suggested a performance-related bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh for the metros and Rs 5 lakh for the other areas, which would be released on the fulfillment of the rollout obligations. In the event of a failure, penalties extending up to Rs 25,000 @ Rs 1,000 per week and beyond that cancellation of the licence have also been recommended.
TRAI has also recommended a combined licence fee of not more than five per cent of the total revenue of the service provider. This according to the recommendations, includes both a per handset annual fee plus spectrum charges. Same license fee has been recommended for public and captive networks.
To help transition of current licensees to open-protocol, spectrally-efficient technologies, TRAI has recommended reserving at least 20 additional radio channels for each licensee within two years from their acceptance of the new license conditions.
The regulator also recommended inter-connectivity with PSTN, on the condition that it be limited to 15 per cent of the airtime usage of the network in the previous month. Apart from the delineation of additional service areas for PMRTS along the highways, TRAI has also suggested the enlargement of the service areas in the metros to include urban conglomeration of these cities or 50 kms radius from the base station. For other cities, the recommended distance is municipal limits of the city plus 10 kms. In India, licenses were granted to private operators to operate PMRTS in three different frequency bands i.e. 300 MHz, 400 MHz and 800 MHz. 79 license agreements were signed with 21 companies for operation in 39 cities.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.