The Government should hold auctions for 2G spectrum in two phases to give a fair chance to all the players, according to Uninor.
The company, majority owned by Norway's Telenor, has suggested that in the first phase, auction should be limited to only new players and then in the second phase, the incumbent players looking for additional airwaves can be allowed to bid.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has floated a consultation paper on 2G auctions and has sought inputs by February 15.
In its reply to the TRAI paper, Uninor has said that blocks of 6.2 Mhz should be sold in the first phase because new players would need that much airwaves. The company has said that all available spectrum should be put on the block with a base price of Rs 1,658 crore.
“The auction should generate prices which could form a basis for fees payable by those that have not paid ‘market prices' for their current spectrum, i.e., all licensees who received their licences after the 4th cellular operators (2001), when the ‘market prices' were last determined,” the company said in its presentation.
“All operators should be required to pay for the entire spectrum held by them and not just for spectrum held by them beyond 4.4 MHz,” it added. Other players are also expected to give their inputs to the TRAI by Tuesday. The Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) may back the views of the new players.
“The view emerging is that the auction should be for new players and the base price should be Rs 1,658 crore as was discovered in 2001 bidding,” said a source in AUSPI. The Cellular Operators of Association of India is still debating the issue, said a senior functionary of the association.