New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has asked the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) to put on hold further allocation of spectrum till a final view on Spectrum Review Committee’s report is taken, a move that may affect expansion of services by existing players like Airtel and Vodafone.
The spectrum committee, headed by additional secretary in the Department of Telecom, has given its report on whether the existing players can get spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz and the pricing of 2G frequency.
In a letter to telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, finance secretary Ashok Chawla said, “It may be ensured that no further allocations of spectrum are made by the DoT, until a final view had been taken on the recommendations of the report.”
He further said that since the proposed indexation of 2G spectrum prices to the derived price of 3G auction, it would also be necessary to conclude urgently the process of auction of 3G spectrum, before giving effect to the report’s recommendations.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in a ruling in March this year had categorized all spectrum allocated beyond 6.2 Mhz as illegal and had asked the DoT to finalize views on the issue within a month of committee submitting the report.
Chawla asked Behura to convene the meeting of the Telecom Commission at the earliest to discuss the recommendations of the Spectrum Review Committee.