No more spectrum, for now

Committees to examine issues raised by the two rival mobile phone bodies.

Union Telecom Minister A Raja has sent back 16 applications of telecom firms for spectrum allocation "" this includes both the demand for allocation by firms that had crossed certain subscriber thresholds as well as the demand for fresh spectrum by firms waiting to start operations.

The applications had been okayed by others in the ministry and had been awaiting Raja's signature.

Raja has decided that a series of committees will be set up to examine the issues raised by the two rival mobile phone bodies, the Cellular Operators' Association of India, representing GSM mobile firms, and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, which represents the CDMA-mobile players.

While the COAI has argued the licence conditions as well as various department of telecommunications (DoT) committees/orders state that cellular firms will get spectrum as and when they cross certain subscriber benchmarks, the AUSPI has argued the cellular firms have been given excess spectrum and has asked for a probe into how this was done.

The COAI and the AUSPI are also at loggerheads over which technology, cellular or CDMA, is more spectrally-efficient.

In 2002, while allowing CDMA firms to offer full-blown mobile services, the government had said CDMA firms needed a fifth of the spectrum the cellular ones did "" this was used as the justification for bringing them in the mobile telephony market.

Later, the CDMA firms argued this equation held only under certain circumstances; the AUSPI now argues the cellular firms are using their spectrum inefficiently and that the subscriber-linked-spectrum policy is flawed as it offers much more spectrum than required.

The committees that are now to be set up will re-examine the subscriber-linked spectrum policy as well as decide on how such spectrum is to be allocated, including examining whether the spectrum should be auctioned or given to existing users, and whether new players should be allowed to bid.

Meanwhile, the COAI is taking no chances with the new government policy on allocating spectrum, and is preparing to go to court if need be.

While it has written several letters to the communications minister putting forward its point of view on allocation/pricing of spectrum, it has signed up most leading lawyers in the capital to fight its case""the move also reduces the number of top lawyers left for rival AUSPI to hire to fight its case, should the case go to court.