Telcos may have to vacate excess CDMA spectrum

The department of telecom (DoT) is likely to direct Tata Teleservices (TTSL), MTNL, Bharti Telenet and Shyam Telecom to surrender the excess CDMA frequency allotted to them before 1999.

This comes even as DoT plans to come out with stringent conditions for allotting frequencies for third and fourth CDMA spectrum.

If the DoT so directs, TTSL will have to vacate spectrum in Andhra Pradesh and Pune, MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai, Bharti Telenet in Madhya Pradesh and Shyam Telecom in certain cities of Rajasthan.

However, Tata Teleservices said it had not received any intimidation and refused to comment on the issue.

Some operators are already taking steps for vacating CDMA spectrum. For example, Bharti Telenet, which was allotted CDMA spectrum before 1999, is in the process of migrating its customers to the GSM platform from CDMA.

According to sources, these operators will be asked to surrender the spectrum in a month's time. DoT is also expected to ask non-telecom operators like Indian Oil Corporation and the Railways to vacate spectrum in Gujarat and Rajasthan, respectively.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had recommended that operators holding additional spectrum should free them in view of the crunch.