BANGALORE, Apr 27:GSMA, a global organisation that looks into the interests of mobile operators, today said that the TRAI’s recommendations on the ‘Auction of Spectrum’ will set India back in its goal to deliver ‘Broadband on Demand’ to the citizens.
‘The proposals disregard international best practice in spectrum policy and jeopardize the investment of billions of US dollars in new mobile infrastructure in a sector that either directly, or indirectly, employs almost ten million people and serves more than 911 million consumers’ GSMA said in a release here.
The European 3G experience more than a decade ago made clear that auctions designed to maximise revenue, hinders the development of the mobile sector and the socio-economic benefits that mobile delivers to the public. Reducing the ability of mobile operators to invest in network upgrades and expansion would undermine the ability of India to leverage its telecom infrastructure to empower citizens and businesses, especially those in rural communities, to participate equitably in the Internet economy.
GSMA said TRAI’s proposed reserve prices for upcoming spectrum auctions are so prohibitively high that they will inevitably curtail mobile operator investment in Mobile Broadband infrastructure and increase prices to consumers.
Given the strong correlation between mobile penetration and socio-economic development, with a ten per cent increase in Mobile Broadband penetration delivering as much as USD 80 billion (Rs 3,506 billion) of extra revenue for India’s transport, healthcare and education sectors by 2015, the TRAI’s recommendations will not serve the interests of the broader Indian economy, it added.
‘Efforts to squeeze money out of mobile operators for some perceived short-term gain will only reduce investment in networks, inhibit growth of mobile services and drive up consumer prices, limiting the value the public will derive from the spectrum resource in the long term,’ said Franco Bernabè, Chairman of GSMA and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group.
TRAI’s recommendations would not only drive up the cost of the mobile spectrum, but would also create artificial scarcity of this critical resource. In advance of license renewal, TRAI has proposed to force current 900 MHz licensees out of the band into the 1800 MHZ band.
(UNI)
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