No spectrum allocation till Nov 12: Govt

The government today assured the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that no spectrum would be given to any operator till November 12, the next date of hearing of a petition filed by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) move to allow "crossover" allotment of spectrum.

The DoT's "crossover" move will allow CDMA operators to get GSM spectrum under their current licence. The COAI, the GSM operators' body, has sought a stay on the move.

The government's assurance, during the hearing of the case in the tribunal, was followed by Communications Minister A Raja's comment that no company would get spectrum until scientific evaluation by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC). Raja said the TEC would submit its report by October 30.

The TEC has been mandated by the DoT to look into the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for a massive hike in the number of subscribers a company needs to get additional spectrum.

According to agencies, Raja said the telecom ministry would ask the law ministry how to deal with over 46 new applications for universal access service licence (UASL).

Meanwhile, the COAI has asked the DoT for a representation on the spectral efficiency committee, which has been asked to study the process of allocation of spectrum.