The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly not taken a decision on over 165 applications for extra 2G spectrum across the country.

Delhi has the maximum number of pending applications (21), as several operators have submitted multiple requests, after having crossed different subscriber number benchmarks set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Under the existing system, operators are eligible for additional spectrum when their customer base crosses a pre-defined benchmarks prescribed by the regulator.

Vodafone, for example, has filed six applications for the Delhi region and is eligible to obtain about 3.2 MHz of spectrum in the city based on its customer growth over the last three years.

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have four pending applications each for Delhi.