What should be the maximum share a
telecom services company can have in terms of the number of subscribers? What is
the maximum quantity of spectrum which can be allowed for a telecom services
company?
The TRAI recommended that the market
share can be upto 35 per cent automatically and upto 60 percent with the
recommendation of the TRAI, and the maximum spectrum that can be allowed to a
company can be 25 per cent of the total spectrum available in a circle. The
Telecom Commission took decision in favor of this recommendation.
But the Competition Commission of
India opposed this decision of the Telecom Department on the ground that
allowing such a big share in the market to any company will be against the
principle of allowing sufficient competition and it will lead to monopoly.
This compelled the DoT to delay the
implementation of its decision in favor of a maximum cap of 35 to 60 percent
share in the market and upto 25 of the spectrum. However, as per the reports in
the news papers, the DoT is likely to inform the Cabinet that since the TRAI is
there to take care of the issues related to competition in telecom sector, the
telecom sector has to be exempted from the purview of the Competetion
Commission of India. But the Competition Commission holds the view that even
though the TRAI is there to frame policies in telecom sector to encourage
competition, it is the Competitive Commission that has the powers to regulate
anti-competition and it is the Competitive Commission that has the necessary
expertise to analyse the complex issues related to competition, from the
financial, economic and legal perspectives.
In any case the TRAI’s
recommendation and the decision taken by the DoT on that basis to allow market
share upto 35 percent and to allow spectrum share upto 25% to a telecom company
is nothing but encouraging monopoly and discouraging competition. The DoT
should stop the implementation of its decision for encouraging competition in
the telecom sector.
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కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి