New and old 2G players may be differing on a number of issues on the proposed 2G auction but they all agree on one thing – that the Government should put all available spectrum on sale.

In their submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the operators said that there was no logic in keeping back spectrum especially when the industry has been working with low quantity of airwaves all this time.

Bharti Airtel in its submission said, “There is no reason to reserve spectrum when there is sufficient demand in the market and operators are ready to pay the market determined price. Moreover, artificial scarcity of the spectrum will lead to inflated value of spectrum, which would ultimately be passed onto the customers.”

Tata Teleservices said that for any scarce resource, the primary economic objective of the Government should be to maximize the net benefits to the society that can be generated from that resource by ensuring an efficient distribution of resources.

“No purpose will be served by keeping such a resource idle. The unused spectrum brings no benefit to society, consumers or Government,” it said.

Even new operators are backing this. STel said that even the excess spectrum available with operators should be put in the sale basket.

The operators has claimed that all the investments made by the operators whose licences have been cancelled should be adjusted against the bid amount and if the operator does not win then the money should be refunded.

Eligibility of bidders

But there are sharp differences between the operators on other issues including the eligibility of bidders.

While new operators want the existing operators to be kept out of the auction, incumbents want it to be open for everyone.

There is also difference over the base price with most players saying that the price determined in 2001 should be the reserve price for the auction while others such as Uninor offering to pay the 3G base price.

>tkt@thehindu.co.in

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