TRAI recommends govt to allow MVNOs

New Delhi, Aug 6: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended the government to allow mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to operate in the country. However, the licence fee for the virtual network operators should be the same as that paid by the current mobile operators, TRAI said in a statement.

''MVNO is a licensee in any service area that does not have spectrum of its own for access service, but can provide mobile access services to its own customers through an agreement with the licensed access provider,'' the telecom regulator defines.

The introduction of MVNO is seen as a natural progression towards enhancing free market principles and contributing to the efficient use of existing telecommunication infrastructure.

The spectrum for access services as on date would include 2G, 3G and BWA spectrum. MVNO cannot participate in spectrum auction for access services in their service area, as they cannot have their own spectrum. Similarly, ISPs can become MVNOs if it does not have BWA spectrum, the statement said.

UNI