{"id":1467,"date":"2012-04-27T04:35:05","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T04:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gsmassociation.co.uk\/newsroom\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2015-05-15T09:47:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-15T09:47:30","slug":"telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india-trai-recommendations-threaten-mobile-broadband-investment-and-deployment-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india-trai-recommendations-threaten-mobile-broadband-investment-and-deployment-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) Recommendations Threaten Mobile Broadband Investment And Deployment In India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The GSMA today stated that the TRAI\u2019s recommendations on the \u201cAuction of Spectrum\u201d will set India back in its goal to deliver \u201cBroadband on Demand\u201d to the citizens of India. The proposals disregard international best practice in spectrum policy and jeopardize the investment of billions of US dollars in new mobile infrastructure in a sector that either directly, or indirectly, employs almost 10 million people and serves more than 911 million consumers.<\/p>\n<p>The European 3G experience more than a decade ago made clear that auctions designed to maximise revenue, hinders the development of the mobile sector and the socio-economic benefits that mobile delivers to the public. Reducing the ability of mobile operators to invest in network upgrades and expansion would undermine the ability of India to leverage its telecom infrastructure to empower citizens and businesses, especially those in rural communities, to participate equitably in the Internet economy. For example, the TRAI\u2019s proposed reserve prices for upcoming spectrum auctions are so prohibitively high that they will inevitably curtail mobile operator investment in Mobile Broadband infrastructure and increase prices to consumers.<\/p>\n<p title=\"\">Given the strong correlation between mobile penetration and socio-economic development \u2013 with a 10 per cent increase in Mobile Broadband penetration delivering as much as US$80 billion (INR 3,506 billion) of extra revenue for India\u2019s transport, healthcare and education sectors by 2015\u2013 the TRAI\u2019s recommendations will not serve the interests of the broader Indian economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEfforts to squeeze money out of mobile operators for some perceived short-term gain will only reduce investment in networks, inhibit growth of mobile services and drive up consumer prices \u2013 limiting the value the public will derive from the spectrum resource in the long term,\u201d said Franco Bernab\u00e8, Chairman of the GSMA and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group.<\/p>\n<p>TRAI\u2019s recommendations would not only drive up the cost of the mobile spectrum, but would also create artificial scarcity of this critical resource. In advance of license renewal, TRAI has proposed to force current 900 MHz licensees out of the band into the 1800 MHz band. As a result, TRAI would limit the available spectrum in the upcoming 1800 MHz 2G auction and leave the remainder under-utilised for a significant period, creating unnecessary scarcity at a time when India has an opportunity to shape the future of the mobile industry. This effectively means that billions of US dollars of investment would be wasted.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the GSMA announced that India was positioned to surpass the US as the second largest Mobile Broadband market in the world within the next four years. In recognition of the threat to this potential, Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA, commented, \u201cThe GSMA\u2019s member operators in India have invested heavily and worked hard to deliver innovative services to consumers and positively impact the broader Indian economy. They are naturally very concerned about the TRAI recommendations, which have the potential to stifle investment in India\u2019s mobile sector. The GSMA and its members are seeking an open dialogue with the Government of India on the licensing of the critical spectrum with the aim of finding a solution that will drive investment and growth in mobile communications and more broadly in the Indian economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ENDS &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the GSMA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide.\u00a0Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world\u2019s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.gsma.com<\/a> or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.mobileworldlive.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>For further information, please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>GSMA Press Office<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:press@gsm.org\">press@gsm.org<\/a><\/p>\n<div><br clear=\"all\" \/><\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" \/>\n<div>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> GSMA and Analysis Mason, August 2011<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GSMA today stated that the TRAI\u2019s recommendations on the \u201cAuction of Spectrum\u201d will set India back in its goal to deliver \u201cBroadband on Demand\u201d to the citizens of India. The proposals disregard international best practice in spectrum policy and jeopardize the investment of billions of US dollars in new mobile infrastructure in a sector [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[22,24,19,21,1133],"algolia_discover_type":[6627],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.0 (Yoast SEO v22.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) Recommendations Threaten Mobile Broadband Investment And Deployment In India - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india-trai-recommendations-threaten-mobile-broadband-investment-and-deployment-in-india\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) Recommendations Threaten Mobile Broadband Investment And Deployment In India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The GSMA today stated that the TRAI\u2019s recommendations on the \u201cAuction of Spectrum\u201d will set India back in its goal to deliver \u201cBroadband on Demand\u201d to the citizens of India. 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