Spectrum should not be shared, Trai advises DoT

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Trai has opposed the sharing of spectrum in its recommendations on infrastructure sharing to the department of telecommunications DoT. It has recommended sharing of active infrastructure such as antenna, feeder cable, radio systems and transmission systems between telecom operators. The regulator has said that existing licences should be amended to allow operators to share active infrastructure. Currently, operators already share passive infrastructure such as towers, battery back-up, building and power supply. The regulator is in favour of encouraging the sharing of towers by operators 8212; but the sharing will not be mandatory.

8220;The exponential growth of wireless telecom services calls for massive investment in infrastructure, particularly in passive, active and back haul components. The country would require about 3.3 lakh towers by 2010 against the present 1 lakh towers. Apart from huge investments needed, the time taken to them roll out could be a major bottleneck in the achievement of 500 million subscribers by 2010,8221; the regulator said in its recommendations. The regulator has also recommended the sharing of back haul for mobile operators. 8220;Considering the importance of back haul sharing for mobile services in rural and far flung areas, licensing conditions should be amended to allow operators to share their back haul in a limited way on optical fibre. No sharing of spectrum at access network side is permitted,8221; Trai said.

Trai has also suggested that the use of non-conventional sources of energy by telecom operators should be encouraged.