The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is delaying over 100 applications submitted by operators requesting additional 2G airwaves.

Based on the ?first come first served? criteria, Bharti Airtel was the first to apply in seven circles including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Assam, followed by Vodafone in five circles including Mumbai and West Bengal.

Aircel and Idea Cellular are awaiting spectrum in four and two circles respectively, while Reliance Communication is in the spectrum queue in Gujarat and Haryana. In Delhi, Videocon is awaiting spectrum.

The Ministry of Defence is expected to release about 10 Mhz of spectrum in most circles shortly. This will be able to accommodate the needs of four-five operators in each circle since most of the operators have sought additional spectrum averaging between 1 Mhz and 2.2 Mhz only. In Delhi, however, only two operators will be able to get more spectrum as the top two operators in the line have sought 4.4 Mhz each.