Telecom regulator TRAI today defended the steep minimum price for auction of 2G spectrum. It said that the technology has undergone a sea change since 2008 and assured that consumers would not be affected much as they will have to pay a maximum of five paisa extra per call.

Appearing before Joint Parliamentary Committee, JPC, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief Rahul Khullar and his predecessor J S Sarma are learnt to have defended the recommendation to auction 2G spectrum at a base price of 3,622 crore rupees for a megahertz of spectrum at pan-India level which is around 10 times higher than the price for 2G licences in 2008. The recommendation was made when Sarma was heading TRAI.

On the issue of its impact on the consumers, TRAI officials said since the licences are valid for 20 years, it will have a cumulative effect of three to four paisa per minute on calls. They said the maximum effect will be five paisa per call and consumers won't be affected much due to the high prices recommended by it. TRAI's recommended base price is almost 10 times higher than the price at which 2G licences bundled with 4.4 MHz spectrum were allocated in 2008 by then Telecom Minister A Raja.

Declaring the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 illegal, the Supreme Court had in February this year cancelled all 122 telecom licences allotted on first-come-first served basis to 11 companies during the tenure of Raja as Telecom Minister. Following the order, the government had asked TRAI to recommend fresh 2G pricing based on auction.