Following stiff opposition from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the government has formed a committee to review the report of the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) on spectrum allocation.

Following stiff opposition from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the government has formed a committee to review the report of the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) on spectrum allocation. DoT had accepted TEC’s report, recommending an increase in the subscriber limit by several times for additional spectrum. It had also recommended a steep increase in spectrum usage charges for GSM mobile service providers. In an attempt to avoid further controversy over spectrum allocation, DoT has also decided to invite scientists and professors from eminent institutions such as the Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) to be part of the new committee. Meanwhile, DoT is preparing a detailed note to access the excess spectrum held by telecom operators and may also impose a time-frame by which service providers will have to return the extra spectrum.