Even as the government is all set to announce the 3G auctions by the end of the month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has once again cautioned it against certain inconsistencies in the 3G policy guidelines, which were announced in August.
In a letter written to the department of telecommunications (DoT) secretary Siddharth Behura, Trai chairman Nripendra Misra has said that granting a foreign player a unified access service licence (UASL), once it has won a 3G spectrum bid might result in legal complications. Trai has said that the government would have to decide whether to first give the licence to the companies which had applied for a UASL last year or to the foreign telcos who win the 3G auction. In case it is the latter then the former may move court.
Last year between September 25 and October 1 a number of companies including the US-based AT&T had applied for a UASL, these companies are yet receive their licences and Trai has said that the current 3G guidelines aren?t compatible given the government?s obligation to provide the UASL to the players who have already applied for it.
Secondly, the regulator has mentioned that the modification made in the 3G guidelines with respect to the licence fee is ambiguous. The modification states, ?the licensee shall pay annual spectrum charge of 1% on the incremental revenue due to 3G services after a period of one year and the method of calculation shall be notified separately?. Misra has said that this is different from the recommendation made by the regulator which had asked the government to levy 1% annual fee on the total AGR.
