The Telecom Commission has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on why a large part of spectrum that is available should not be sold to telecom service providers and be kept idle as planned.

The panel has asked the regulator to explain why the recommendations include different timing for re-farming spectrum in 900 Mhz band and 800 Mhz band. The answers from TRAI will be detrimental to the future of the 2G spectrum policy in the country.

TRAI proposal suggests selling only of 5 Mhz spectrum immediately and keeping a huge chunk of the total 1,800 Mhz band for re-farming. The limit placed would introduce a capacity crunch as 7 to 8 telecom service providers are interested in acquiring spectrum.

Telecom Commission has stated in its comments to the TRAI recommendations that, "Greater clarity is required on the recommendations regarding timing of re-farming and quantum of spectrum to be set aside for meeting re-farming requirements at a later date for both 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands and whether there is scope for a more optimized approach that would not necessitate keeping a large quantum of spectrum reserved and unutilized even when there is demand."

The commission also asked the TRAI to explain as to why only 5 MHz of spectrum must be sold while additional slots are available for auction even after enough spectrum is set aside for reframing.

Meanwhile, the head of leading telecom companies have warned that have warned that the proposal of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 2 G spectrum allocation would be devastating for the telecom industry and service providers.