The Hindu Business Line : No spectrum allocation till Nov 12, says Centre

New Delhi, Oct. 24 The Government on Wednesday assured the telecom tribunal that there will be no allocation of spectrum to any operator till November 12, the next date of hearing on GSM operators’ petition against the decision to allow mixed technology to Reliance Communication and other CDMA operators.

While the GSM camp claimed a minor victory as RCom and others will have to wait at least till next month to get spectrum, senior Government officials said that they were anyway not going to allocate radio frequency before November.

“Who wanted to allot spectrum now? The entire exercise on how to give licences is being done and thereafter we will see about the spectrum. We never said that the spectrum will be allotted on priority,” said the Communication and IT Minister, Mr A. Raja, on the sidelines of an industry event.

Hearing adjourned

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday had approached the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal alleging that DoT had taken a hasty decision that enabled a CDMA operator to jump the queue for GSM spectrum.

TDSAT Chairman, Mr Justice Arun Kumar, adjourned the hearing till November 12 after the Solicitor General, Mr Goolam E. Vahanvati, appearing for Centre, told the tribunal that spectrum will be allocated only after the committee in the Telecom Engineering Centre (the technical wing of DoT) submits its report on efficient usage of spectrum.

While the report is expected to be completed by October 30, COAI has shot off a letter to DoT requesting that its nominee be made part of the TEC committee.

Seeking views

Reacting on the legal action taken by COAI, Mr Raja said, “I want to have a very fair play with the existing operators, licence holders and new applicants. It was categorically told in the meeting with COAI (earlier) that whatever be their views, they should be placed across the table with me, and their views will be kept in mind while taking a decision. After all this, if someone wants to go to the court for redressal, it is their liberty,” Mr Raja said.

On the large number of pending applications for new telecom licences, Mr Raja said the advise of the Solicitor General has been sought on the matter.