The Indian telecom department has come out with guidelines for liberalisation of spectrum, which is allocated without auction to telecom companies, following the nod from the Cabinet earlier this month. As per the guidelines, the most recent reserve price recommended by the telecom regulator, Trai, will be taken as provisional price for liberalisation of administratively allocated spectrum with the balance being collected after deriving market rate through bidding.
The notification on spectrum liberalisation said, "As an interim measure, the most recent recommended reserve price by Trai will be taken as provisional price for liberalisation of the administratively allocated spectrum in such cases."
A liberalised spectrum enables telcos to leverage any technology to deliver mobile voice and data services like 3G and 4G. The move will now pave the way for Anil Ambani-owned RCom to liberalise its airwaves in 4 circles-- Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu -- where a market determined price is not available in the 800MHz band.
The telco will now able to liberalise spectrum in these four circles for Rs 1,300 crore, according to PTI. RCom had earlier applied for liberalising its 800 MHz spectrum in 20 circles a few months back, and already paid Rs 5,383.84 crore as spectrum liberalisation fee for 16 telecom circles.
RCom earlier this week said that it along with its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) is now able to share spectrum with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio in nine telecom circles--Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh (East), Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orrisa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and North East—following an approval from the telecom department
