The Indian government has sought the Supreme Court’s approval to allocate airwaves without holding competitive auctions. The government wants to allocate spectrum administratively to meet unanticipated state priorities such as national security and public interest, or when techno-economic peculiarities preclude auctions. The government has included administrative spectrum allocation without auctions in the Telecommunications Bill 2023. The move comes after a 2012 Supreme Court judgement and a Presidential reference prescribed competitive auctions for the distribution of natural public-owned resources like spectrum.
The government has petitioned the Supreme Court to issue appropriate clarifications on administrative assignment of spectrum. The Centre has stressed that spectrum allocation is not only required for commercial telecommunications services but also for non-commercial use such as security, safety, and disaster preparedness. The government has also highlighted specific categories of spectrum usage where technical and economic conditions affect the feasibility of auctions. This includes captive use, radio backhaul, and one-time or sporadic use.
The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to consider administrative spectrum allocation in cases where economic conditions lead to lower demand than supply or where technical conditions, such as spectrum for space communication, necessitate spectrum sharing among multiple players. The government has clarified that all previous administrative assignments of spectrum were provisional and subject to the government’s final decision on pricing and policy.
The government has emphasized the urgent need for the Supreme Court’s clarification on administrative spectrum allocation. It believes that such a clarification is crucial for achieving national security, safety, and disaster preparedness objectives, as well as enabling dynamic decision-making in the telecommunications sector. The government’s plea to the Supreme Court comes as part of its efforts to leverage telecommunications for the common good and better serve the nation.
In the Telecommunications Bill 2023 tabled in Parliament on Monday, the government explicitly stated that administrative assignment of spectrum without auctions could be undertaken for services such as radio backhaul, in-flight and maritime connectivity, and satellite services including global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licences.
