Telecom companies may hold average of 40 MHz spectrum per circle

NEW DELHI: The government expects each telecom operator to hold an average 40 MHz of spectrum per circle by next year, on a par with some international markets, telecom secretary JS Deepak said. This should help increase the low broadband penetration levels in India, a subject which led to a public disagreement between the telecom ministry’s top official and the sector regulator.
Currently, Indian telecom service providers hold close to 25 MHz of spectrum per circle, which analysts say is lesser than needed, especially when it comes to offering a large number of services, such as those under the government’s digital drive.

“The sector is moving towards market consolidation. Next year, airwaves scarcity will be history. We are looking to allocate 40 MHz of spectrum per operator, on a par with the North American market,” Deepak said at an industry event organised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday.

The Department of Telecom expects that consolidation and the spectrum bought by operators in the recent auctions together could increase airwave holdings of players such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Industry group Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director-general Rajan S Mathews, however, said each operator would require at least 60 Mhz in every circle, “in the absence of landline or fibre cable infrastructure”. The group, which represents carriers such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Jio, believes that India lacked alternative resources to offload traffic to a wireline network, and looking at the type of demand and speed requirements of at least 2Mbps, higher quantum of airwaves would be required.

Wednesday’s event saw Trai chairman RS Sharma and Deepak taking opposing views on India’s relatively low broadband penetration levels.

Sharma said India is ranked below nations like Kenya, Algeria, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in the ICT development index, indicating low broadband penetration, which is a matter of worry, and added that the sector should work to offer ubiquitous, affordable, fast and reliable connectivity. The ICT development index is published by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union.

Deepak countered the Trai chief ’s views, saying that while India needs to improve its broadband penetration levels, rankings need be seen in the larger context of a developing nation. He said India’s low rankings are a fact with most indices.

“We have a population of over 300 million at less than one dollar a day and 600-plus million on less than two dollars a day. While the point is well taken that broadband penetration can increase the GDP, the reverse is also true.

When GDP is low, people have other uses for their income other than broadband and this is something which affects our broadband penetration,” Deepak said.

To increase broadband connectivity, the government is addressing a gamut of things on the table, including BharatNet which is expected to be implemented faster during the phase-II rollout. The department is planning also to implement multiple strategies such as putting overhead fibre cables, using satellite bandwidth and last-mile connectivity via Wi-Fi.