Spectrum Wars - Why an auction is not the solution
Decmber 26, 2007, The Hindu Business Line
Discussing 'spectrum wars' (the wireless spectrum required for connection from the user to the last network element viz., the radio base station), T. H. Chowdary, Director, Centre for Telecom Management & Studies, Hyderabad, notes that the mindset of the Indian telecommunications administrators is still ruled by the 'permit-license-quota' approach. An example given is the decision in the early nineties to allow licensees of mobile telephony to use only GSM and not any other technology. When this was revoked later giving the choice to the licensees, the early GSM licensees had already invested large amounts of money locking them up for lifetime in that technology. The key argument in the article is that higher licensing fees and spectrum charges, whether by auction or by other methods, will tell upon the affordability of telephony by the lower income groups of the population.