Telecom regulator Trai on Saturday recommended auction of CDMA spectrum at reserve price of Rs 2,685 crore per MHz, which is around 50 per cent higher than the previous pan-India base price. The recommendations come after multiple rounds of discussions between the government and the regulator, which had earlier suggested that no auction be held for the 800 MHz band, used by CDMA operators and 4G services, for want of takers. “Authority recommends that the reserve price for the forthcoming auction of 800 MHz spectrum should be fixed at 80 per cent of the average valuation,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in its recommendation ‘Reserve Price for Auction of Spectrum in the 800 MHz Band’. It has recommended a reserve price of Rs 2,685 crore per MHz, compared to around Rs 1,800 crore that was fixed for the auction in March 2013. The last reserve price of CDMA spectrum was about 33 per cent lower that GSM spectrum in 1800 MHz band at that time. Trai has also imposed a condition that the government carve out a contiguous block of 5 MHz frequencies before conducting the auction. Currently, contiguous blocks are available only in five out of 22 service areas nationwide. They are Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and North-East. According to CDMA telecom operators, harmonisation of frequencies may take months or even years, delaying the auction of 800 MHz band. Arranging one block of contiguous spectrum will require reassignment of frequencies already by held by existing users.
