The Hindu : Business : Norms laid down for additional spectrum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 31, 2006

Business

Business

Norms laid down for additional spectrum

Level-playing field for GSM and CDMA operators

NEW DELHI: The Union Government on Thursday announced new norms for allocating additional spectrum, a key resource for the mobile telephony industry, that requires operators using GSM and CDMA technologies to have an identical number of subscribers to get their extra quota.

So far, CDMA operators had to add more number of subscribers than GSM operators to get their share of spectrum — the range of frequencies for aerial transmission used to offer mobile services that is measured in Mhz (Megahertz). The identical subscriber-linked norms announced by the Department of Telecommunications apply on allocation of additional spectrum (above the 10 Mhz cap for GSM players and 5Mhz cap for CDMA players). As per the new criteria, a GSM operator will get spectrum beyond 10 Mhz in two tranches — from 10 Mhz to 12.4 Mhz and 12.4 Mhz to 15 Mhz. For a CDMA operator, it will go up from 5 Mhz to 6.25 Mhz.

The sixth carrier will start with a spectrum of 6.25 MHz and will get additional 1.25 MHz on achieving the prescribed subscriber base.

For Delhi and Mumbai, the GSM and CDMA operators need to have a subscriber base of 21 lakh to get additional spectrum of 2.6 MHz and 1.25 MHz, respectively, while for Chennai and Kolkata, the subscriber base has been fixed at 13 lakh for the additional spectrum.

In the same circle, the CDMA (fifth carrier) operator will need 20 lakh subscribers for additional 1.25 MHz, while a GSM operator will get 2.4 MHz additional spectrum for similar a subscriber base. The subscriber base of 26 lakh will be applicable to GSM and CDMA players (for the sixth carrier) in Category A telecom circles. — PTI

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