British telecom major Vodafone's Indian arm has asked the government to allocate immediately the spectrum it won in the February auctions.
"Vodafone India has formally requested the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) and regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) for immediate allotment of the 1800 MHz spectrum, won during auctions held in February 2014," Vodafone said in an media advisory note.
"Only 7 weeks are left when, as per DoT, the presently deployed spectrum in 900 MHz is to be replaced by 900 MHz won in auctions," it added.
The company has also sought extension of the spectrum's validity by six months from the date of allocation, drawing attention to DoT's earlier observation that six months will not be sufficient to migrate the network from 900 MHz to 1800 MHz band on extension of licence.
The seven companies -- Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Reliance Communications - which won spectrum in February paying a cumulative sum of Rs.62,162 crore, are yet to be assigned the frequencies required for transmitting mobile signals, by the DoT.
The licences of Vodafone and Airtel to operate telecom services are due to expire in November, while both companies are required to use a new set of frequencies in place of their existing spectrum.
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Vodafone has had to buy spectrum afresh to continue operations.
"Despite several reminders, the spectrum has not been earmarked till now," Vodafone said.
The company said it has requested the DoT to assign the spectrum without any delay and also take up the issue of changeover in totality on an immediate basis so that there is no loss or inconvenience to the public.
Speaking of "serious repercussions on services bigger than any quality of service issue seen in history of mobile telecom in India", Vodafone has sought the DoT's response by Friday on this reminder for allotment of spectrum due to it.
Vodafone has over 9 million mobile subscribers in Delhi, 7.7 million in Mumbai and 4.7 million in Kolkata.
The company so far has invested Rs.70,000 crore in India and has 92 million rural customers.
--Indo-Asian News Service
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