The Hindu Business Line : Tata Teleservices opposed entry fee for 3G services

In response to the consultation paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last year, Tata Teleservices had said: "We do not recommend any pricing of spectrum other than cost recovery as the operators have paid a high entry fee and paid additional fees for migration to Unified Access Service Licence."

Tata Teleservices had submitted its views to TRAI before the recommendations were finalised. The company offers mobile services using the code division multiple access (CDMA) technology.

"In our view, IMT 2000 spectrum should be considered as an extension of 2G mobile services and be treated in the same manner as 2G," Tata Teleservices had submitted.

It had also said that there was a necessity to change from the existing revenue share method for determining the annual spectrum charge as the present pricing mechanism penalises the most efficient operator.

Another Tata-managed company Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd had said that the policy should facilitate entry of smaller players into the 3G space.

In its submission, VSNL had said: "Auction method will result in monopolisation, as only large groups with good financial base will get the spectrum. Being a natural resource, spectrum should be allowed for smaller operators also."

In a recent communication to the Communications Minister, Mr Ratan Tata suggested that the Government could charge a licence fee for 3G services and assign spectrum to the operator who pays the highest revenue share. He said the licence fee could be around Rs 1,500 crore for an operator on an all-India basis.

"Being a scarce national resource, spectrum should not be allocated free to any telecom operator. India should, like other countries, charge an appropriate licence fee for 3G spectrum," Mr Tata said in his letter.

When contacted, company officials said there was no clash of interest as Mr Tata had written the letter as a "statesman and in national interest."

That apart, the views by Tata Teleservices was submitted to TRAI a few months ago when there was a possibility of getting capacity in the 1900 Mhz band. "Since TRAI has not conceded the demand for allocating bandwidth in the 1900 Mhz band, the situation becomes very different from the time the views were expressed.

``Mr Tata's suggestions come in the wake of TRAI's decision to allocate 3G spectrum only in the 2000 Mhz band which makes it more valuable," said a company official.

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