Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Telecom operators not told about vacant 3G slots
By siliconindia
|
2 Comments
New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for Telecom Minister A Raja, the Defence Ministry has alleged that the Department of Telecom (DoT) failed to inform service providers that it had vacated two blocks of 3G spectrum for the upcoming auctions.
Raja, in a communication to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, dated October 26, had said that the armed forces must vacate 3G airwaves ahead of the auctions scheduled for early January 2010, reports Economic Times. The Defence Ministry in its reply has said that enough airwaves to accommodate two players had been vacated by October 22, while adding that DoT had failed to share this information with the country's telecom operators.
The revelations by the Defence Ministry changes the contours of the 3G auctions scheduled to begin on January 14, 2010. This is because, spectrum-starved circles now have airwaves to be part of the auction process. Besides, operators will now have to re-plan their auction strategy as there will be four 3G slots for GSM players in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Himachal Pradesh in line with all other circles. Besides, Rajasthan and all the North East states can also accommodate two GSM-based 3G operators while West Bengal can now have three slots.
Raja had sent his communication to Mukherjee two days after DoT had released the information memorandum, which detailed all issues, including availability of 3G airwaves across all circles and the auction modalities. Earlier the UPA government had decided to auction four slots of 3G airwaves for GSM players in all circles in the country. But in the IM, DoT had informed all telecom operators that there will only be two 3G slots in the states of Delhi and Gujarat, while there were no third generation airwaves for auction in the circles of Rajasthan and all North East states (except Assam). The IM also adds that only three GSM-based players can be given 3G frequencies in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West) while only one operator could be accommodated in the circle of West Bengal.
For CDMA operators, the IM states that there is no 3G airwaves for auction in the circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. The equation of spectrum availability in each of these circles now changes following the vacation of two spectrum slots by the armed forces.
On October 28, the Defence Ministry in its reply pointed out that it has already released two blocks of 3G spectrum on October 22. The Defence Ministry also added that this information did not reflect in the IM that was issued by the DoT on October 24. Third-generation airwaves allow telecom operators to offer high-end services such as ultra-fast internet and video conferencing on mobile phones.