The Hindu : Business : It is CDMA that is favoured: COAI

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Business

Business

It is CDMA that is favoured: COAI

Suggestion for price tag in place of revenue share is retrograde

NEW DELHI: GSM cellular operators on Tuesday alleged that the DoT's guidelines on spectrum allocation were "lenient'' towards CDMA operators.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, countering some of Ratan Tata's claims with regard to the allocation norm of spectrum, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said "lenient approach towards CDMA operators not only gives them the carte blanche to use their spectrum inefficiently by setting up far fewer cellsites as compared to the GSM operators, but also gives them a tremendous cost and competitive advantage over GSM.'' The association contended that "CDMA spectrum has a spectral characteristic factor of 5:1 vis-a-vis GSM spectrum, [but] the Order has maintained a lenient ratio of 2:1 between GSM and CDMA spectrum.''

COAI also alleged that the CDMA operators were being favoured under the allotment criteria through a very lenient subscriber linkage.

The letter said India already had "a well defined, spectrum policy — National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) — that is fully in line with the latest technological developments and the radio regulations laid down by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).''

COAI said any approach, which held the spectrum in reserve for an operator based on years of operation, would be discriminatory against public interest and in complete contravention of the fundamental principle of spectrum management.

It said the suggestion that a price tag of Rs. 1,500 crore be attached to allotment of all-India spectrum demonstrated a flawed approach that sought to "discard a successful formula of revenue share and revert to a formula that brought this entire industry to the brink of bankruptcy in 1998.''

PTI

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