The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD)?s demand for 70 Mhz of additional spectrum will create a serious shortage of airwaves for telecom companies, say news reports.
This is in response to Defence Minister A.K. Antony?s letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that DoT and the finance ministry had not kept their word on vacation of additional spectrum for use by the defence forces.
DoT said the defence services had raised their demand and were now asking for 150 MHz spectrum in the 1,700-2,000 Mhz band. Earlier, it was agreed that while defence would keep 150 Mhz spectrum along the country?s international borders, it would get only 80 Mhz in other areas.
DoT added that the demand, if accepted, would cause the government a huge loss, by reducing the amount of spectrum available for sale by a big margin.
DoT also said that telecom companies needed additional spectrum in the 1,700-2,000 Mhz band. Also, about 15 Mhz would be allotted for 3G services. As many as four companies have already been given five MHz each for 3G services. DoT said another 20 Mhz was needed for new services such as 4G.
DoT said in lieu of spectrum in the 1,700-2,000 MHz band, the air force had been provided an optical fibre network. The army and the navy would be provided similar networks, it said. Thus, there was no reason for the MoD to keep more than 25 Mhz spectrum in the 1,700-2,000 Mhz band, it said.
