DoT, telecom chiefs meet over spectrum issue

The first phase of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) meet concluded with closed door meeting between the DoT secretary and chief executive officers (CEOs) of all telecom companies over the issue of spectrum, today.

The subsequent sessions will see one-on-one interaction between various telecom players with a separate session of the members of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Spectrum has been in short supply and several players have been waiting for allocations since December 2006. The issue has snowballed into a controversy because operators urgently need spectrum to keep pace with rapid increases in subscribers.

The GSM lobby has also objected to the government policy on allocating spectrum for third-generation (3G) services, which enable access to high-speed internet data.

Amongst those present are Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman, Anil Ambani, chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mitttal, Managing Director Vodafone Essar Asim Ghosh, Rajan Bharti Mittal, joint managing director, Bharti Enterprises and others.