TRAI proposes Rs3,622 crore reserve price for 2G spectrum auction

In a move that could make mobile telephony services expensive in the country and put a brake on the country's emergence as the second-fastes growing mobile services marker, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed reserve price of Rs3,622 crore for auction of 2G spectrum, much higher than the price operators paid for the radio waves during the previous allocation.

TRAI has fixed the base price for every megahertz of spectrum in the 1,800 mega hertz band, much higher than the reserve price for 3G spectrum, which was at Rs3,500 crore.

TRAI has fixed the base price for every megahertz of spectrum in the 1,800 mega hertz band.

At present, India is the cheapest telecom market in the world, with call rates as cheap as half-a-paisa per second or one paisa per second depending on the user's tariff plan.

The move follows an earlier Supreme Court order in February, which cancelled 122 telecom licenses and ordered a reallocation of spectrum through auctions.

TRAI has also proposed that the auction should be open to all eligible carriers holding spectrum below a prescribed cap.