TRAI recommends high base prices for 2G auction
April 23rd, 2012 - 8:27 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, April 23 (IANS) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Monday recommended to the government a higher-than-expected base price for the auction of 2G spectrum.
It recommended the reserve price for the 1800 MHz spectrum at Rs.3,622 crore and that for 900 MHz at Rs.7,244 crore.
The regulator said though the auction would be open to all the players, including the incumbents and the new players, those firms which are holding spectrum beyond the prescribed cap should not be allowed.
A majority of operators in their responses to the consultation paper issued earlier during the year by the regulator had suggested the reserve price for 1800 MHz to be fixed for Rs.1,658 crore - the price charged for a pan-India 2G licence in 2008.
The TRAI recommendations come in the wake of the Feb 2 Supreme Court order cancelling 122 telecom licences issued in 2008. The apex court had asked the affected firms to shut shop in four months.
At he same time, the court had asked the government to re-distribute these licences to firms through an auction in the due time.
The regulator recommended that excess spectrum of 2×2.4 MHz should be immediately taken back from MTNL.
It also said that all spectrum to be assigned through the auction process in future shall be liberalised which means spectrum in any band can be used for deploying any services in any technology.
TRAI recommended that the auction of 800 and 1800 MHz spectrum should be held through two separate auction processes and in quick succession.
- TRAI sets high base price for 2G auction, operators cry foul (Lead) - Apr 23, 2012
- 'TRAI plan on spectrum auction will curtail investment' - Apr 27, 2012
- Telecom honchos to meet Sibal - May 02, 2012
- No decision on 2G pricing, EGoM favours refarming spectrum - Jun 05, 2012
- GSM players to contest TRAI theory of minor tariff hike - May 07, 2012
- Re-farming of spectrum will harm incumbents: Assocham - May 19, 2012
- Telecom shares plunge on 2G spectrum price hike move - Apr 24, 2012
- EGoM to decide on spectrum pricing Thursday - Jun 20, 2012
- TRAI's reserve price extremely high: CII - May 06, 2012
- Reserve price of spectrum major concern: COAI - Jun 30, 2012
- Cabinet okays Rs.14,000 crore spectrum reserve price (Lead) - Aug 03, 2012
- EGoM to recommend spectrum price, but cabinet to take call - Jul 20, 2012
- Operators at loggerheads over 2G spectrum auction - Feb 16, 2012
- Telecom EGoM to recommend lower reserve price to cabinet for approval (Lead) - Jul 20, 2012
- Operators want total spectrum available to be auctioned - Mar 22, 2012
Tags: 1 658, apex, apex court, auction, base price, consultation paper, crore, due time, feb 2, four months, incumbents, mhz spectrum, New Delhi, rs 1, succession, supreme court, telecom regulatory authority, telecom regulatory authority of india