DoT Panel Suggests Up To 20% Hike in Spectrum Reserve Price

A technical committee of the Department of Telecom has suggested a 15-20 per cent increase in the reserve price of spectrum which will be auctioned in the next round in February.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended a reserve price for 800 MHz spectrum at Rs 3,104 crore for pan-India spectrum. The DoT committee has proposed this be raised to Rs 3,646 crore. The TRAI’s price was itself 15 per cent higher than the price fixed in February and 72 per cent higher than the Rs 1,800-crore fixed in the 2013 auction.

The panel has also recommended 15-20 per cent higher reserve price for 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands used by GSM players. The telecom regulator had suggested Rs 2,138 crore as the base price for airwaves in the 1800 MHz band in 20 circles and Rs 3,004 crore for 900 MHz band in 18 circes.

The DoT panel’s proposal will now be put before the Telecom Commission for final approval.

The DoT panel has also rejected TRAI’s proposal to take back spectrum from MTNL and BSNL. TRAI had asked DoT that it should take back airwaves from the two PSUs and the entire available spectrum with DoT in the 800-MHz band should be auctioned.