The Hindu : National : Decision soon on spectrum from defence: Pranab

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Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
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Decision soon on spectrum from defence: Pranab

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: Refusing to give a time frame, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads a group of Ministers looking into release of spectrum from armed forces, on Tuesday said a decision on the issue would be taken soon.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, Mr. Mukherjee said no timeframe had been set as there were some court cases coming up in the coming days. “This is engaging our attention and we will take a decision as soon as possible,” he said.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is expected to get about 25 MHz of spectrum immediately from defence forces and many players, including existing operators and new aspirants, are hoping to get a share from this spectrum.

New players

The DoT has already made it clear that the first priority would be given to those who had been waiting to get additional frequency for the last many months and subsequently the airwaves would be offered to new players.

However, the telecom industry is divided on DoT’s new spectrum allocation norms, with GSM operators claiming their first right, while Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators seeking a level playing field.

Mobile services

The DoT has been laying Optical Fibre Cables as an alternative for the defence to switch over and vacate the scarce spectrum for use in commercial mobile services.

The exercise is likely to be completed soon and DoT may get some spectrum to be allocated among players soon.

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