<p>"We completely reject those propositions. How can 2G spectrum price be 800 per cent of 3G prices. There is no rationality in it," Mittal told PTI on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress here.<br /><br />TRAI had last week proposed over six-fold jump in 2G spectrum prices at Rs 10,972.45 crore for the contracted 6.2 Mhz spectrum for pan-Indian licence as against Rs 1,658 crore being paid by the operators now.<br /><br />While, each Mhz of additional spectrum held by operators should cost one-time Rs 4,571.87 crore (all India), however, it would vary from circle to circle and the operators would have to pay only for those where they hold extra spectrum.<br /><br />Asked whether the company would take it up with the government, Mittal said, "we have already made recommendations on this, we have sent letters and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is following on that as an industry.<br /><br />"I don't think anyone is happy with these recommendations," he added. Terming the new recommendations of TRAI as "disastrous" for a majority of the operators, the COAI, a lobby for GSM service providers, had said that it was like "changing the goal posts in the middle of the game."<br /><br />Bharti is facing a financial burden of nearly Rs 8,000 crore if the new recommendations were implemented in toto, while state-owned BSNL would take maximum hit of over Rs 15,000 crore due to extra spectrum held by the firms.<br /><br />The telecom ministry is likely to set up a committee to look through these proposals followed by a round table with all stakeholders, before taking a final decision. TRAI has said that the prices should be implemented retrospectively from April 1, 2010. All recommendations are for spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band.<br /><br />Last year, TRAI had said that spectrum held in 900 Mhz band should be priced at 1.5 times of price of spectrum in 1800 Mhz. This would put additional burden on telecom firms.</p>
<p>"We completely reject those propositions. How can 2G spectrum price be 800 per cent of 3G prices. There is no rationality in it," Mittal told PTI on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress here.<br /><br />TRAI had last week proposed over six-fold jump in 2G spectrum prices at Rs 10,972.45 crore for the contracted 6.2 Mhz spectrum for pan-Indian licence as against Rs 1,658 crore being paid by the operators now.<br /><br />While, each Mhz of additional spectrum held by operators should cost one-time Rs 4,571.87 crore (all India), however, it would vary from circle to circle and the operators would have to pay only for those where they hold extra spectrum.<br /><br />Asked whether the company would take it up with the government, Mittal said, "we have already made recommendations on this, we have sent letters and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is following on that as an industry.<br /><br />"I don't think anyone is happy with these recommendations," he added. Terming the new recommendations of TRAI as "disastrous" for a majority of the operators, the COAI, a lobby for GSM service providers, had said that it was like "changing the goal posts in the middle of the game."<br /><br />Bharti is facing a financial burden of nearly Rs 8,000 crore if the new recommendations were implemented in toto, while state-owned BSNL would take maximum hit of over Rs 15,000 crore due to extra spectrum held by the firms.<br /><br />The telecom ministry is likely to set up a committee to look through these proposals followed by a round table with all stakeholders, before taking a final decision. TRAI has said that the prices should be implemented retrospectively from April 1, 2010. All recommendations are for spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band.<br /><br />Last year, TRAI had said that spectrum held in 900 Mhz band should be priced at 1.5 times of price of spectrum in 1800 Mhz. This would put additional burden on telecom firms.</p>