(2 May 2008 9:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: Aimed at making more spectrum available for broadband wireless access, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has sought stakeholder views on new bands.

The sector regulator has floated a limited consultation paper for spectrum allocation on 2.3-2.4 GHz, as also 2.5-2.69 GHz bands, primarily on the issues of eligibility, pricing and the maximum amount of spectrum a licensee can hold.

On the key issue of fixing the reserve price, Trai suggests that there are three options and asks for stakeholders' comments on whether it should be the same as recommended earlier for this spectrum (2.3-2.4); or 50 per cent of the recommended price for 3G spectrum; or, lastly, equal to the reserve price recommended for 3G spectrum.

The Trai consultation paper comes in the wake, as the regulator says, of the International Telecommunications Union-Radio identifying 2.3-2.4 GHz band as IMT, or International Mobile Technology band, something that had not happened when the regulator had issued a consultation paper on the same subject last year.

Last year, the regulator had issued a consultation paper on allocation of 2.5-2.69 GHz bands, which had already been identified by ITU-R as IMT bands.

On the issue of eligibility, Trai is concerned about the need to increase penetration of broadband in the country through the wireless mode, and moots the question of eligibility for bidding for allocation on that concern.

On the issue of maximum holding allowable, the authority has said that it expects a lot of the 100 MHz band to be vacated or refarmed, expectedly around 40 to 50 MHz, and says it is of the view that in the medium term, a spectrum of 15 MHz shall be optimal for providing a majority of applications at a reasonable speed.

Regarding pricing, Trai says that it not only wants to revisit its earlier recommendation of the reserve price for bidding for spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band, but also asks for comments on what should be the reserve price on the far more versatile and valuable 2.3-2.4 and 2.5-2.69 GHz bands that are capable of handling the most advanced technologies.

The key questions posed by Trai are as follows:
1. What should be the revised reserve price for the spectrum in 3.3.-3.6 GHz band? The various options available are as below:
o The reserve price of this spectrum remains as recommended earlier.
o The reserve price for the spectrum is made equal to 50 per cent of the reserve price recommended for the 3G spectrum.
o The reserve price is made equal to the price recommended for the 3G spectrum

2. What should be the eligibility conditions for bidding for spectrum in the bands of 2.3-2.4 GHz and 2.5-2.69 GHz?

3. In the 2.3-2.4 GHz band, the maximum amount of spectrum which a licensee can bid for?

4. In the 2.3-2.4 GHz band, the size of the spectrum blocks for the bidding?

5. In view of limited availability of spectrum in this band and possible conflict between the technologies using FDD and TDD modes, how the spectrum in 2.6 GHz band be allocated?

6. In case the present available spectrum is allocated for BWA technologies using unpaired spectrum, then will it be feasible in future, from technical and economic angle, to refarm the allocated spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band in line with the global practices?

7. Unlike a number of other countries, a major portion of spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band is yet to be vacated by WPC. What measures can be taken to accelerate the process of vacation so that the Indian telecom sector is not at a disadvantage in relation to other countries?

8. What should be their reserve price for the purpose of auction for the spectrum in 2.3-2.4 GHz and 2.5-2.69 GHz?

9. Is there a need for putting a maximum limit on the cumulative holding of spectrum acquired in these bands by a licensee and what should be that limit?