TRAI calls for service-neutral spectrum

TRAI, the telecom regulator in India thinks that the spectrum allocation should be technology neutral and service neutral. This came unde light when the Communications Ministry asked The TRAI to examine the allocation and pricing of 3G spectrum.
Rajender Singh, secretary, TRAI said that there would be gross under-utilisation of a policy or a regulation, if the framework stops one particular service from operating in the market.
Speaking at the Thought Leadership Forum organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Singh said, “The Communications Ministry has asked TRAI to examine 3G spectrum allocation and the consultation paper is likely to be released this week or early next week.” He said, TRAI has always maintained that spectrum should help fuel telecom growth in the country.
Quoting international experience on the issue, Singh said, “Spectrum worldwide is considered as sea and not as land. The allocation and rules are similar to the navigational rules and regulation. This is a good example of better spectrum utilisation.” Highlighting on the theme of the CII conference, ‘Towards a converged World: Seamless Mobility and Connecting the Unconnected,’ Singh said, a major irritant in the telecom sector faced by operators is the interconnection issue. He said, industry should work together and evolve a system of pooling resources and also prepare for the latest technologies like next generation networks (NGN). Singh said non-cooperation in sharing resources has led to higher infrastructure costs for operators.
“Today, we have reached 100 million mobile subscribers, which is a major achievement. In addition to this, we have 50 million fixed-line subscribers. This is just the beginning. We can achieve more if we can resolve these issues,” said Singh.
Mr. Singh admitted that the fast growth in the tecnology was always a challenge for the regulator. But he said that, TRAI was well prepared to meet the challenge.