The telecom industry continues to remain divided on the recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spectrum allocation and related issues.
This is as expected. Spectrum allocation is a contentious issue given that it is a limited resource, yet is necessary for future telecom expansion. Reaching an understanding within the mobile community (GSM and CDMA operators) is proving to be an uphill task.
A joint working group (JWG) of operators was constituted by the government to break the logjam. In the meantime, the Wireless Planning Coordination (WPC) wing of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had announced a freeze on any further spectrum allocation to mobile operators until a policy was put in place. Meanwhile, the congestion on mobile networks has been worsening as subscriber numbers are increasing. With service providers clamouring for the release of additional spectrum to roll out 3G and broadband services, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology headed by member of Parliament M.M. Pallam Raju, stepped in.
It recently took up the issue of spectrum management individually with each operator ?? Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Reliance Infocomm, Bharti, Hutch and Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL). It also heard the representations of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers (AUSPI), apart from discussing the issue with DoT and the defence ministry.
The operators’ suggestions were along expected lines. They demanded “absolute equality” ?? not just between competing technologies, GSM and CDMA, but also between private and government operators.
Since the COAI has maintained that spectrum distribution must be made on the basis of capacity utilisation, its representation to the standing committee was on the same lines. It pointed out that the CDMA operators should use the available, allocated spectrum first before seeking additional spectrum since they claimed their technology is more spectrum efficient.
It also asked for absolute equality in terms of spectrum charges. According to the COAI, the present spectrum charges discriminate against GSM operators while giving a backdoor entry to CDMA operators for rolling out 3G services at both cost and competitive advantage.
AUSPI, on its part, asked for at least 20 MHz of radio frequency as per international practice. It cited the example of most countries where CDMA technology is used to either allocate the 800 MHz band or the 1900 MHz band, or both frequency bands to operators.
It stated that the policy’s main thrust must be equal amount of spectrum allocation. The criteria for usage and efficiency should be uniformly applicable to all operators, irrespective of the technology. The parliamentary committee is also slated to meet the technology providers.
AUSPI asked the standing committee for additional spectrum in the 1900 MHz as well as 800 MHz bands, for providing high speed 3G Evolution Data Only (EVDO) service. It argued that CDMA players already offer voice and video services as well as high capacity services using their existing spectrum, and so should not be prevented from providing them on new frequencies in the 1900 MHz band. Besides, the handsets and infrastructure are readily available from multiple vendors for quick rollout in these bands.
The final decision on allocating fresh spectrum in any band is, however, largely dependent on the defence ministry, which is yet to come up with a plan for replacing equipment that uses these frequencies.
The communications ministry and the defence ministry comprising officials from the army, air force, navy and WPC are understood to be working together to find ways of releasing more spectrum for mobile use. Since much of the spectrum is occupied by the defence forces, which use the spectrum in various frequency bands, and have priority on account of national security, the need to sort out the issue is imperative. According to DoT officials, “There is need for a combined effort, which is remunerative for the defence forces, to vacate some frequency bands and reallocate for mobile telephony.” This is especially so for the 2 GHz band, which TRAI has recommended for 3G services, for both CDMA as well as GSM operators.
Meanwhile, it is reported that DoT, based on its own internal panel, is in the process of drafting a spectrum policy, which may or may not use the recommendations of the parliamentary committee as its report will not be binding on the centre. However, it is relevant, as the government wants to finalise new telecom and spectrum allocation policies before the year-end.
