Trai's Khullar bats for trade in telecom spectrum

Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) chairman Rahul Khullar on Friday questioned why trade in spectrum should not be allowed and added that the government needed to take a decision on the issue soon.

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Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said, "Spectrum for some reason has been treated as a holy cow. I can understand that you don't want to cap gains on assigned spectrum which is administratively allocated. But if everyone is buying spectrum on auction, why not permit  trade in it? These are issues on which the government should no longer brook any further delay. A decision needs to be taken."
On consolidation, the Trai chairman clarifies that while "consolidation is the name of the game" the government is yet to put in place guidelines for mergers and acquisitions.
Minister for telecom Kapil Sibal added, "I've been conducting the discussion regarding the excessive penalties that the telecom department has been imposing on operators has been going on for the close to two-and-a-half years now. I've also been wanting to change the mindset which unfortunately hasn't changed. Maybe the best way forward is to delegate that power to Trai."