Total Number Of Frequencies That An Entity May Hold: Containing Monopoly

Total Number Of Frequencies That An Entity May Hold: Containing Monopoly

Monopoly

The total number of frequencies that an entity may hold, directly or indirectly, nationally in each phase should not be more than 25 per cent of the total number of frequencies being tendered during the phase. The bidder should at the time of submitting a bid furnish a declaration to the effect that it shall not accept bids for more than 25 per cent of the frequencies offered in any phase.

 

An undertaking should be said to be in a dominant position, if it holds more than 25 per cent of the total operationalised licenses in the country and in the event of abuse of dominance by such dominant undertakings, the Government or the regulator, as the case may be, should have the power to order the sale of the licenses, through a tender process, to other undertakings that are not connected in any manner whatsoever, with any dominant undertaking. This condition of reserving the right of the Government or the regulator (as the case may be) to break up a monopoly should be part of the tender documents so as to minimize the chances of litigation.

 

The content plan for each separate frequency at the same center being bid for, by the same bidder must be different to ensure wider availability of choices to the listeners.

 

The licensees would neither be permitted to network among the multiple channels in one center, nor would they be allowed to network with another licensee in the same center.

 

Each license should constitute a separate undertaking and licensees should maintain separate accounts for each frequency allocated to them. It should be the endeavour of each licensee to properly segment the expenditure with reference to each license in accordance with the applicable accounting standards or guidelines issued by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.