DoT to free spectrum from Defence

Late last month, telecom regulator Trai had refused GSM and CDMA mobile service providers any spectrum in the 1900 MHz band, arguing that this band is currently used by Armed Forces to run sensitive communication equipment.

While the regulator claims that mobile players ‘‘urgently’’ need more spectrum, it admits that freeing the airwaves from the Department of Defence (DoD) will prove costly and time-consuming.

Though the spectrum knot may not unravel too soon, considering Trai has recommended there should be no one-time spectrum charges for 3G spectrum, the mobile service providers — allocated the 2GHz spectrum band by Trai last month — are up in arms for the 1900 MHz band.

Trai has also said the present method of annual spectrum charge in terms of percentage of revenue should continue, while the one-time fee has only one major taker: Tata, with its Rs 1,500 crore offer. DoT sources said on Wednesday that part of such a one-time spectrum usage fee can be used to fund fresh equipment for the Armed Forces, specially as not all equipment needs to be replaced.

One of the bottlenecks here, DoT sources said, was that the Department of Defence had not submitted any plan to shift its equipment from one frequency band to another, without which the Finance Ministry cannot fund equipment replacement.

Without such a plan, it is also impossible for the frequency planners to allocate fresh spectrum for defence use, they said.

The government targets 200 million new telephone connections by 2007, of which only 50 million are expected to be fixed lines, leaving the onus of expansion on the cellular players.

This has led to an urgency in DoT to fix the spectrum problem, as, apart from taking care of congested mobile networks, additional spectrum is also needed if capacity for fifth and sixth telecom players is to be built in telecom circles.

If all operators agree to a one-time charge, in addition to the percentage payment based on revenues, the centre would gather in nearly Rs 10,000 crore, sufficient to move most defence equipment out of 1900 MHz.

Of late, a host of suggestions on managing the airwaves to meet growing needs have hit the WPC, and spectrum auctions, that Trai had brushed off as too advanced, are one such scheme. All options, said DoT sources, are actively being considered by the department.