The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued spectrum trading guidelines, thereby allowing operators to trade frequency airwaves. As per the guidelines, the operators can trade spectrum that has been allocated through auction or assigned after 2010. Also, trading will be permitted for frequency airwaves, for which market-determined price has been paid. However, operators will be allowed to trade only after completion of two years of spectrum acquisition.

Further, the telecom department has permitted only outright transfer of spectrum and not leasing. Also, spectrum trading will be allowed only on circle basis, which implies that if the sale of spectrum is limited to a part of a circle, the rights and obligations of the spectrum of the remaining portion of the circle will be also transferred to the buyer. In addition, the validity period of the transferred spectrum will not be altered following its sale.

Operators will also have to inform DoT about trading of any spectrum 45 days in advance. Meanwhile, sellers of spectrum will be required to clear all the outstanding dues to the government before concluding the spectrum trading agreement. Any outstanding dues after the effective date of trade will be the liability of the buyer.