The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) suggestions on mechanism to calculate the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and its respective mobile network operators (MNO). This comes as DoT is considering introduction of MVNOs within one year and guidelines on spectrum sharing within six months. MVNOs buy bulk talk-time and bandwidth from an MNO and sell it to end users.

The DoT has also sought views of the regulator on all aspects of passive and active infrastructure sharing in a comprehensive manner. Active infrastructure includes switches, routers and spectrum. With regards to sharing of spectrum, the regulator has already set up a 15-member committee for framing guidelines. Meanwhile, the department has also asked for clarification on the provision of long distance and Internet services by MVNOs.

Industry experts are of the view that active infrastructure sharing would prevent duplication of investments and streamline efficiencies. They believe that it is unfeasible to share active infrastructure under the current guidelines.