Telecom operators concerns referred to internal committee

2010-07-07 18:50:00

 

The government Wednesday referred the objections raised by telecom operators to the recent recommendations of the regulator, including a controversial move to charge players holding spectrum in excess of 6.2 Mhz, to an internal Committee of the department of telecommunications (DoT).

At a meeting between Telecom Minister A. Raja and representatives of access service providers, cellular operators association and other stakeholders, it was decided that the concerns raised by the operators would be looked into by a committee headed by the Member (technology) of the DoT.

The managing directors of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited were also present at the meeting which discussed the recent recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on licenses, spectrum allocation, charging of spectrum and roll-out obligations, merger and acquisitions.

TRAI had recommended that the companies pay a one time fee for holding 2G radio spectrum beyond 6.2 megahertz (MHz) and the prices would be based on 3G prices.

Many telecom operators had slammed TRAI for linking the price of 'excess' 2G wireless spectrum to 3G pricing. Following which Raja assured the operators that he would listen to all the operators before finalizing any increase in the 2G spectrum fee.