1. Spectrum and Rights to Airwaves
Sunil Kumar Poddar
IT and telecom.
Panjab University Chandigarh
mob. no.- 7355228688

2. In India over the last few year , there is significant growth
in telecom sector.
· In August 2007, Department of Telecommunications
setup for spectrum assignment.
· In July, 2009, Department of Telecommunications
got recommendation for telecom services and its
management
Spectrum, a vital input for wireless services , as it
increased in social and economic significance
mob. no.- 7355228688

3. Background
 1994/1995 : In India, duopoly was introduced in the cellular
mobile segment for providing cellular mobile services.
1997/2000 : MTNL/BSNL was third cellular mobile operator.
 2001 : A Fourth Cellular Mobile Service provider was introduced.
 2003 : Unified Access service (UAS) licensing regime introduced.
In India unlike other countries, spectrum allocation in
800/900/1800MHz band is bundled with the license.
 April 2007 : DOT got recommendations on the issue of
determining the number of Access providers in each service area
and review of the terms and conditions of Access provider Licence
mob. no.- 7355228688

4. 7th November 2007 : Government,
constituted a Committee called the First
Committee.
16th June 2008 : Committee called Second
Committee consisting of representatives of
DoT, TEC, C-DOT, WPC, Defence and
educational institutes like IIT, IIM etc.
.
mob. no.- 7355228688

5. Need for spectrum review
 Increasing growth of subscribers
 To ensure a level-playing field
 new radio spectrum management framework
efficient utilization of available spectrum, policy
for reframing of spectrum
spectrum allocation mechanisms including
provision for in building coverage
spectrum pricing, spectrum trading & spectrum
sharing
mob. no.- 7355228688

6. spectrum and its availability
Mobile subscriber base for the next 5 years
Trend for both voice and data services depending
upon actual market conditions at that time.
 actual subscriber growth and the population
·For 2G services would be 2X100 MHz (GSM) and
2X37 MHz (CDMA) .
·For providing 3G and high speed data services like
HSPA etc., at least 2X10 MHz of spectrum will be
required by each service provider .
mob. no.- 7355228688

7. 450 MHz band : Government agencies, and the same is not available
for commercial wireless services.
 700 MHz band : For rural broadband wireless access worldwide3.
 800 MHz band : total spectrum of 2X20 MHz is available for
commercial services.
 900 MHz Band : total of 2X25 MHz is available for wireless services .
 1800 MHz band : total of 2X75 MHz is available for wireless
services .
band for commercial services varies from service areas to service area
 1900 MHz band : total of 2X10 MHz is available in this band for
commercial services related issues with GSM/WCDMA services .
 2.1 GHz band : for 3G telecom services in blocks of 2x5 MHz
 2.3-2.4 GHz band : users like State electricity boards, power utilities,
oil companies, the railways and security organizations have deployed
microwave links in this band.
 2.5-2.69 GHz band : for broadcasting satellite service (BSS) in India
by Government agencies and for mobile satellite service (MSS).
 3.3-3.4 GHz : assigned to seven ISPs in FDD mode.
 3.4-3.6 GHz : currently being used for television reception.
mob. no.- 7355228688

8. Spectrum Reframing:
o combination of administrative, financial
and technical measures aimed at removing
users or equipment of the existing frequency
assignments either completely or partially from
a particular frequency band.
o allocated to the same or different service
o implemented in short, medium or long
time-scales.”
mob. no.- 7355228688

9. In-band services
Research and testing concerning the reuse or refarming of
GSM spectrum to be used for future .
· Lower frequencies transmit over greater distances and
penetrate better indoors. This means fewer sites cover greater
areas
· 900MHz spectrum band to GSM access technologies such
as mobile phones.
· 800, 900 and 1800 MHz is bundled with the licence and the
additional spectrum is given based on the subscriber linked criteria.
In view of our policy of technology and service neutrality
licences, should any restriction be placed on these bands for
providing a specific service & after the expiry of present licences
mob. no.- 7355228688

10. Digital Dividend
Digital broadcasting is claimed to be roughly six
times more efficient than analogue, allowing more
channels to be carried across fewer airwaves.
Digital Dividend – offers real opportunities for
wireless innovation.
· services gives an opportunity to the
governments for reaping economic benefits
· digital dividend spectrum may help including
in the planning of 3G services
mob. no.- 7355228688

11. LICENSING RELATED ISSUES
number of access service providers in
a service area
Mergers & Acquisitions
Spectrum Trading
Spectrum sharing
mob. no.- 7355228688

12. SPECTRUM PRICING
·pricing should reflect the scarcity besides incentivising efficiency
in use.
·It is important to decide upon the objectives that the pricing
policy should achieve.
Methods of spectrum pricing
1 Determination of upfront charges for spectrum
2 Administrative Incentive Pricing (AIP)
3 Market-based prices
mob. no.- 7355228688

13. Airwaves
• Spectrum (also sometimes referred to as airwaves or
frequencies)
• Supreme Court verdict in 1995 ruled that
“The airwaves or frequencies are a public property. Their
use has to be controlled and regulated by a
public authority in the interests of the public and to
prevent the invasion of their rights. Since, the
electronic media involves the use of the airwaves, this
factor creates an in-built restriction on its use as in
the case of any other public property.”
mob. no.- 7355228688

14. UNIFORM LICENSE FEE IN TELECOM
SECTOR
Telecom Services in India are provided through various licenses
issued by the Licensor, the
Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
o The licenses include Unified Access Services (UAS)
o Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS)
o National Long Distance (NLD)
o International Long Distance (ILD)
o Internet Service Provider (ISP)
o Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
Public Mobile Radio Trunk Service (PMRTS) etc. Infrastructure
Provider
Category - I (IP- I) requires registration only.
mob. no.- 7355228688

15. Determination of annual spectrum
usage charges
1 Spectrum fees based on users’ gross income
o A fee can be charged based on a percentage of the gross income of a company.
o This is simple to calculate but does not promote spectral efficiency if revenues are not
proportional to quantity of spectrum used.
This method is currently used in India
2 Incentive spectrum fees
An incentive fee attempts to use price to achieve spectrum management
objectives by incentivising efficient use of spectrum. Assignment fee levels are not dependent on
cost-based limitations but the fee structure approximates the
market value of the spectrum
3 Opportunity cost fees
An opportunity cost fee tries to simulate the market value of the spectrum. This process
may require financial analysis, estimations of demand or market studies to achieve a valuation, and
considerable expertise.
4 Charges based on cost recovery
fees depend on the actual costs incurred by the regulatory authority in the
licensing of the networks/ services concerned and associated management of the radio spectrum.
mob. no.- 7355228688

16. spectrum Allocation Methods
First-come-first-served basis : assigned to eligible seekers on the
first-come-first served basis .
Beauty contest : comparative process or beauty contest method,
the qualifications of each of the competing spectrum applicants
are formally compared based on
established and published national criteria like coverage
number of BTS proposed to be deployed for this coverage
Grade of service
level of customer service.
Lottery:licensees are selected at random from among all
competing spectrum applicants.
Auction:
In an auction, spectrum is allocated by bidding among competing
spectrum applicants.
Auctions award spectrum to those who value it the most.
However for a positive outcome of auction methodmob. no.- 7355228688

17. mob. no.- 7355228688