Department of Telecom (DoT) is understood to have mooted the proposal to allow those who had applied for licenses between September 25, 2007 and October 1, 2007, to participate in the next generation 3G mobile telephony services.
According to sources, DoT fears that if foreign players, who do not even have a licence, were allowed to participate in the 3G process, existing applicants may go to court and delay the entire process.
"If a non-licence holder gets 3G spectrum (radio frequency) on the basis of auction, it will be given a licence. There are 342 applications pending for grant of licence on first come-first served basis. These applicants may also go to court and delay the process," an internal note said.
However, DoT has also said that International Competitive Bidding, as suggested by Finance Ministry, would increase the competition and thus bring larger revenues during spectrum allocation, but this may pose legal hurdles.
DoT and telecom regulator TRAI have been at loggerheads over the issue of allowing foreign players in the 3G telephony with TRAI opposing the move saying their (foreign players) entry will be expensive and may result in higher tariffs.
