The Hindu : National : Spectrum allotment on seniority basis

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National

Spectrum allotment on seniority basis

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Union Communications Minister A. Raja on Monday said new telecom companies which were awarded Letters of Intent (LoI) would be given spectrum on “seniority basis.”

“As per the New Telecom Policy, spectrum is distributed on a first come, first served basis. Those who deposit the licence fee first will be allotted radio frequency first. We will first scrutinise the LoIs and only then will we distribute spectrum,” Mr. Raja told journalists here.

Last week, the Department of Telecommunications gave LoIs to nine companies including Unitech, Datacom and Shyam Telelink after getting clearance from the Ministry. Some companies which got the letters had been suggesting allocation of spectrum simultaneously to all new entrants.

Transparent process

Mr. Raja ruled out favouritism or fraud in awarding LoIs. “The entire process was carried out in a very transparent manner after a thorough scrutiny of all applications. LoIs were awarded only to those who fulfilled all eligibility criteria.”

The Minister did not give any time frame for the allocation of spectrum. “We have to assess the availability of spectrum, only then can we decide on its allocation.” A Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee is looking into availability of spectrum.

Mr. Raja said the process was not yet over and more applications were at the scrutiny stage. More new firms would be awarded LoIs and then given spectrum, he said, but declined to give any time frame for giving LoIs to those which applied after September 25, 2007.

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