NanYang Wood-Working Machinery Co., Ltd.

The next round of spectrum China band saw machine Manufacturers auction is expected to be held in May-June in 2016.The 700 MHz band is a sought after band for LTE (4G) deployment due to its efficiency. It provides wider coverage which reduces nu-mber of towers requ-ired and significantly cuts down the capex.Some analysts said that if the price was accepted and the entire spectrum was sold, the government can get upto Rs 5-6 lakh crore..Operators had reque-sted Trai to defer 700 MHz spectrum sale as ecosystem for providing services in this band was not developed. However, many others were doubtful if this amount could be achieved as most telecom companies are heavily indebted.

This is for the first time Trai has suggested the base price for 700 MHz which is considered as the most efficient frequencies for high-end mobile services.Telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday recommended Rs 11,485 crore per Mhz as base price for pan-India 700 Mhz spectrum, Rs 5,829 crore for 800 Mhz and Rs 2,873 crore for 1800 MHz frequency.Despite the odds, the recent moves on sharing/trading, freeing unutilised government-held spectrum and auctioning the entire remaining spectrum, are welcome moves by the government. However, establishing a more transparent process in this regard would be useful. Telecommunications fireworks have since shown no symptoms of stopping.

Examples may be drawn from: Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) acquiring Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL) and getting into a prospective merger deal with Aircel; Videocon selling spectrum for two circles to Idea and possibly to Telenor as well and; Bharti Airtel acquiring a stake in Augere Wireless. Restricting inter-band spectrum-sharing, allowing trading of spectrum only two years after auction and converting non-auctioned spectrum with available with the operators to tradable through seller paying the difference from the market price, shall limit the purpose. With no provision for market exit, it looked like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and DoT had taken the famous Winston Churchill quote "Never, never, never give up" a little too seriously. Elsewhere, AT&T acquired Iusacell and Nextel in Mexico, Rogers merged with Mobilicity in Canada. With 11 players competing for a limited resources, each will get an inadequate spectrum, resulting in poor services.