The telecom department has amended telecom licence norms to allow higher spectrum holding by individual mobile operators and facilitate ongoing consolidation in the sector. The amendment removes limitation on telecom operator of holding more than 50 percent in a spectrum band above 1,000 megahertz frequency range that are used for transmitting mobile signals.  

The new licence norms allows telecom operator to hold up to 35 percent of total spectrum allocated in a service which was earlier limited to up to 25 percent.  

"The total spectrum held by the resultant entity shall not exceed 35 percent of the total spectrum assigned for access, by way of auction or otherwise, in the concerned service area," the licence amendment dated May 30, 2018 said.