Spectrum: PMO moves to Montek

Sources also confirmed that at the meeting it was decided that the Planning Commission should be roped in to find a way out of the current spectrum shortage, allocation criteria and pricing jumble.

‘‘There was a meeting with the PMO Principal Secretary TK Nair and we talked about the Group of Ministers (GoM) recently set up. All these issues and the Planning Commission do come into the picture,’’ Dr Sarma told The Indian Express. He said the DoT itself was also still in the picture for resolving spectrum-related issues.

The spectrum allocations are in a tangle since May 2005, when telecom regulator TRAI released its recommendation on spectrum policy. TRAI said operators need not pay entry fees for 3G spectrum and that additional players should be allowed only if sufficient spectrum is available for existing players.

Both recommendations were struck down by Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who had said at the time that TRAI had exceeded its brief. The debate raged on, with a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report adding fuel to the fire over spectrum allocation criteria for CDMA and GSM operators.