Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea stick to auction pitch for all spectrum allocation
Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have called for auctions as the default mechanism for spectrum assignment for broadcast and telecom applications, a suggestion which was opposed by broadcast entities and peer telecom operators.
At an open house discussion hosted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Wednesday, Bharti Airtel reiterated the need for regulation of content tariff across distribution platforms so that the same content is not priced radically different on different platforms.
The topic of the discussion was 'Regulating Converged Digital Technologies and Services — Enabling Convergence of Carriage of Broadcasting and Telecommunication'.
«Auction should be the default mechanism for assignment of spectrum whether it is for telecom or broadcasting so — satellite or terrestrial,» a representative from Jio said during the three-hour-long discussion held virtually.
Jio said more spectrum should be made available for 5G, and that the service provider should be allowed to decide what to use acquired spectrum for, rather than the regulator pre-deciding which band can be used for what purpose. «Majority of spectrum bands can be used interchangeably between separate satellite and terrestrial networks,» the Jio representative said.
Vodafone Idea, in its comments, supported the view that all spectrum should be auctioned.
The telco also proposed a common licensing ministry for ease of obtaining permissions in case of convergence. Representatives from broadcasters opposed auctioning of spectrum used for television broadcast, arguing that spectrum used in broadcast is of the space category which is available in abundance.
Industry body Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), which represents Indian
