A 2012 Supreme Court judgement and a Presidential reference prescribe competitive auctions for distribution of natural public-owned resources such as spectrum.
“Issue appropriate clarifications that the government may consider the assignment of spectrum through an administrative process,” the Centre urged the Supreme Court in its petition, a copy of which was seen by ET. “Pass such an order, or further orders as this court may deem fit and proper… in the interest of justice.”
Radio Backhaul, Other Services
Meanwhile, the government, in the Telecommunications Bill 2023 tabled in Parliament on Monday, said administrative assignment of spectrum without auctions could be undertaken for services such as radio backhaul, in-flight and maritime connectivity, satellite services including global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licences, among others.
“We have brought it in the Bill but sought additional clarity from the Supreme Court to ensure all bases are covered,” a senior official told ET.
In its plea to the top court, the government said assignment of spectrum is required not only for commercial telecommunications services, but also for non-commercial use, that is, the discharge of sovereign and public-interest functions including security, safety and disaster preparedness.
The Centre also stressed that there are specific ‘sui generis,’ or unique, categories of usage – including commercial use of spectrum – where technical and economic conditions of the application affect the feasibility of an airwave auction.
Thus, auction as the exclusive mode of distribution of this crucial infrastructural asset may create some issues in the allocation in cases of captive use, radio backhaul and one-time or sporadic use.
Collaborative Use Cases
“Assignment may require to be undertaken administratively due to economic conditions such as demand being lower than supply, or due to technical conditions such as spectrum for space communication, where it would be more optimal and efficient for spectrum to be shared by multiple players, rather than being broken up into smaller blocks for the sole purpose of exclusive assignment by auction,” the petition said.
The Centre told the Supreme Court that following the 2012 ruling, all such administrative assignments of spectrum have been done on the specific condition that such assignment shall not be treated as final, but purely interim and provisional, subject to the government’s final decision on pricing and policy.
It added that there is an urgent requirement for the court to clarify that in certain circumstances, the assignment of spectrum can be through an administrative process.
“This will be crucial for achieving the objectives of national security, safety and disaster preparedness, as well as enabling the Union of India to undertake dynamic decisions as may be required, to realise the full potential of telecommunications, to best subserve the common good,” said the plea.
