Government Approves Spectrum Sharing By Telecom Firms

Sharing may be permitted where both sharing entities are having administratively allotted spectrum and where one entity has spectrum acquired through auction or liberalized spectrum and the other has spectrum allotted administratively, sharing shall be permitted only after spectrum charges are paid for liberalizing the administratively allocated spectrum.

"Spectrum sharing will be restricted to sharing by only two licensees subject to the condition that there will be at least two independent networks provided in the same band," the statement said.

The prescribed limits for spectrum cap shall be applicable for both licensees individually.

"Further, spectrum holding of any licensee post-sharing shall be counted after adding 50 per cent of the spectrum held by the other licensee in the band being shared, being added as additional spectrum to the original spectrum, held by the licensee in the band," the release said.

Guided by the principle of 'ease of doing business', the Cabinet also decided that both licensees sharing the spectrum shall jointly give a prior intimation for sharing the right to use the spectrum at least 45 days before the proposed effective date of the sharing.

"Over all it is positive move. We will have to see how Department of Telecom implements it in licence condition. If it is as recommended by TRAI then it will help industry. Sharing will help industry in building capacity and address issues like call drops," said Rajan S Mathews, director general of industry body COAI.

In November, 2012, the then government approved the principle of sharing the spectrum, but detailed guidelines were not issued, and the policy could not be implemented.

Sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last year recommended sharing of all categories of telecom airwaves held by operators including spectrum allocated at old price of Rs 1,658 crore or assigned without auction.

Telecom operator Uninor, which did not buy spectrum in last auction, appreciated the decision.

"This was a much awaited regulation and with this operators like Uninor will be able to optimise use of spectrum as well as offer a superior customer experience both on voice and internet," Uninor spokesperson said.

Spectrum sharing provides an alternative of auction to companies who need more airwaves to expand their wireless bandwidth for delivering telecom services especially high speed internet.

"Decision on spectrum sharing guidelines is a step in the right direction for ushering in Digital India," Vodafone spokesperson said.

Read More:7 Richest Celebs Who Teach Their Kids To Be Self Dependant