The Hindu Business Line : A band for Defence

CREATING AN EXCLUSIVE spectrum band for Defence telecommunication, as suggested by the Parliamentary Standing Committee to the Government to enhance availability of spectrum for mobile service providers, is an idea that ought to be pursued actively. Even if this involves a sizeable payment of over Rs 1,200 crore, as estimated by the Defence Ministry, as compensation to vacate extra spectrum, it may be worthwhile exploring this option.

There is a compelling need for the Government to act now as two factors are clamouring for attention. One, since the Defence spectrum is spread across different bands, its assignment for civilian use has been an unproductive and a time-consuming process. In its May recommendations on spectrum allocation, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had declined to offer the 1,900 MHz band (said to be the core spectrum for GSM and CDMA providers for different reasons) to the existing mobile operators as the Defence forces were said to be using it. Both Europe and North America have separated their military and civilian bands based on Eurocom standards. A similar splitting in India will help the government assign spectrum much faster and more flexibly to mobile operators. At the same time, it will also settle the nagging security and interference issues raised by the Defence establishment.

Two, the latest round of studies by TRAI shows that inadequate spectrum has been one of the factors responsible for widespread congestion in, and the poor quality of service by, mobile networks in the major cities. Unless this aspect is addressed immediately, it is likely that the poor quality of service will force customers to go slow on their mobile acquisition plans. The GSM service providers that witnessed two months of record subscriber additions may see this pace of growth slowing sooner than later. In turn, this will impact the ambitious plans of the Government to achieve the mobile telephony target of 200 million by 2007.

Since the Government may be reluctant to dip into the telecom reserves to pay the Defence establishment, it may be only right that it gets the service providers to fund it, either through the existing 6 per cent revenue sharing arrangement with the service providers or through a one-time licence or entry fee for players entering third generation mobile (popularly known as 3G) telephony. Since the Defence establishment has also claimed that it has not been paid for the spectrum vacated in the past, it is imperative that the Government addresses these issues as early as possible.