The telecom firms made the observation based on a counseling paper on telecommunication infrastructure sharing, spectrum sharing and spectrum leasinglaunched through the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in mid-January this 12 months. In January, TRAI sought public feedback on sharing of core parts of telecom networks, sharing of spectrum in several bands and so on to cut back capital and operational price of carrier suppliers. “This consultation paper has been prepared to discuss and deliberate the issues related to telecommunication infrastructure sharing, spectrum sharing and spectrum leasing,” TRAI stated in “Consultation Paper on Telecommunication Infrastructure Sharing, Spectrum Sharing, and Spectrum Leasing”.
What Reliance jio says
“Inter-band spectrum sharing is anti-competitive and would lead to loss to the exchequer, as well as failure of (the) process of spectrum auction and, therefore, should not be implemented,” Jio stated in its feedback. “We submit that the inter-band spectrum sharing will in turn reduce the capex and opex digital infrastructure investments by service providers with easy access to spectrum and network without actually investing. This will adversely impact competition in the sector,” Jio added.
What Airtel and vodafone say
Both Airtel and Vodafone have argued that allowing inter-band spectrum sharing would not only promote spectral efficiency but also help improve quality of service provided to consumers, especially since cellular traffic is on the rise. “Inter-band access spectrum-sharing among access service providers should be permitted, particularly because since 2015 spectrum sharing in India is in existence with the sole objective of enhancing spectral efficiency by combining/pooling the spectrum holding,” Airtel stated.
“As the spectrum is bought at a marketplace worth thru an open and clear public sale, the spectrum retaining TSP must have the appropriate to totally exploit business price of the spectrum, together with thru inter-band sharing,” Vodafone-Idea said as part of its comments on the consultation paper.
What is Inter-band spectrum sharing?
Inter-band spectrum sharing is the pooling and sharing of airwaves between two or more operators in multiple bands in a particular market. At present, inter-band spectrum sharing is not allowed. Only intra-band, or the sharing of airwaves between two operators within a specific band, is permitted.
What is the current status
Currently, active infrastructure sharing is limited to antenna, radio access network, base stations, feeder cable and transmission system. Sharing of infrastructure related to Wi-Fi equipment such as Wi-Fi router, Access Point etc is also allowed. The government allows sharing of spectrum within the same frequency band among mobile service providers.
“In case the scope of infrastructure sharing is enhanced to incorporate the entire community parts throughout all licenses/ authorizations, it’s anticipated that it’ll assist in expanding the usage of community parts, and in bringing down the price (each capital price and running price ) of the community,” TRAI stated. It is additional proposed that the entire community parts (together with core community parts) is also authorized to be shared amongst licensees, no longer just for wi-fi networks but additionally for wireline networks.