TRAI’s 2G spectrum proposals ‘shocking’: Bharti

Bharti Airtel,India’s top mobile operator,on Wednesday said the telecommunications regulator’s proposals on allocation of second-generation (2G) spectrum are “shocking,arbitrary and retrograde” and are against all existing global norms for spectrum allocation.

On Tuesday,the telecommunications regulator recommended companies pay a one-time fee for holding 2G radio-spectrum beyond 6.2 mega hertz (MHz) based on 3G prices,a move that will hit established operators dominant on the GSM platform.

“We are confident that the DoT and the government will take a rational approach and summarily reject these arbitrary,impractical and perverse recommendations,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement.