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Reserve price for broadband services hiked
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 09 July 2008, 21:37 IST
New Delhi: Affected by the spectrum constraint, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to hike four-fold the reserve price for broadband wireless access services in the country, reported Business Standard.
The reserve price for the auction of every 10 MHz block should be 25 percent of the reserve price for 3G spectrum. But due to spectrum constraints, only four blocks of 10 MHz would be allocated to such service providers.
The DoT has also decided not to allow category B internet service providers to offer broadband wireless services. It also wants controlled, simultaneous e-auction of the spectrum, similar to what will be done for 3G services.
The DoT thinks that if the reserve price for a 3G spectrum block in category 'A' circles is pegged at Rs 160 crore, the price for broadband wireless access spectrum should be Rs 40 crore, as against the Rs 10 crore that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended in September 2006. The regulator had said the reserve price for categories 'B' and 'C' circles should be Rs 5 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively.
The DoT has also decided that a broadband wireless access (BWA) license should be valid for 15 years, instead of the five years recommended by Trai.
This will enable the existing internet service providers and universal access service licensees to bid for the BWA license to extend their license period.
Trai had earlier recommended that spectrum in blocks of 15 Mhz each in 3.3-3.4 Ghz and 3.4-3.6 Ghz should be allocated. However, the DoT has pointed out that due to the constraints of the available spectrum, four blocks each of 10 MHz should be allocated.
Narrowing its criteria for eligible bidders, the government is of the view that the bidders should be restricted to category 'A' ISPs along with UASLs and cellular mobile service providers as opposed to Trai's recommendations to include category 'B' ISPs as well.
