How Much Impact from India Spectrum Sharing Rules?

The specific way India is implementing one form of spectrum sharing is marginally helpful to some carriers, in some areas. The new rules allow two carriers, who have spectrum licenses in the same frequency bands, to pool spectrum.

The Indian government, which has been considering mobile operator spectrum sharing spectrum sharing since at least 2013, has decided to allow it.

The new rules allow two carriers in one service area, where both the licensees have airwaves in the same band 2G, 3G or 4G, to combine resources.

That move improves efficiency in a few ways. Most importantly, a service provider with lots of customers but little spectrum will gain capacity. Presumably, the carrier allowing such use will be compensated for the use of licensed capacity.

But the new rules do not allow leasing or sales of spectrum by one license holder to another. Some believe that will limit the impact.

Were it possible to sell licenses, the mobile market might be restructured more quickly, as licensees would have new incentives to monetize their assets by selling to a larger provider.

There also are new fees imposed on shared spectrum, so carriers will weigh the costs and benefits carefully.

The ability to share  might be most helpful for carriers with very small spectrum licenses, or for carriers who do not want to spend much to fix call drop problems in some areas.

Spectrum sharing also could affect spectrum needs in various areas, and therefore affect spectrum auction behavior.

Some operators that share existing spectrum might have less need to acquire spectrum in upcoming auctions.

That, in turn, should help some operators save money on spectrum costs.