The Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of India has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide the details on the current status of 4G network rollouts in the country. DoT had auctioned the broadband wireless access spectrum in 2010 and the successful bidders are mandated to rollout network within five years ending July 2015.
However, till date, only Bharti Airtel and Aircel have partially launched 4G services in the country. The other successful bidders, Tikona, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Augere are yet to launch commercial 4G services.
As per the auction norms, all the spectrum winners have to provide the 4G services to around 90 per cent of the urban areas, along with 50 per cent coverage in rural areas within five years of winning the spectrum. Further, the regulations add that any failure to meet these obligations would result in taking back of the spectrum from the operator.
