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IRONING OUT DIFFERENCES: (from left) Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Group, Mr Vikram Mehmi, CEO, Idea Cellular, Mr Shashi Ruia, Chairman, Essar Group, Mr T. V. Ramachandran, DG, COAI, and Mr Asim Ghosh, Chairman, Hutch, after a meeting with the Minister for Communications and IT, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, in the Capital on Tuesday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Sept. 6

THE Government will set up a joint working group of GSM and CDMA operators to resolve all contentious issues between the two sides including spectrum allocation, access deficit charges and interconnection. The decision was taken at a meeting of GSM-based cellular operators with the Communication and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, on Tuesday.

Briefing media persons after a two-hour long meeting, Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, "The joint working group will be constituted by the Government in the next two to three weeks and the report will be submitted by December. Apart from industry representatives, it will also have senior government officials. The group will give inputs on a number of issues including points of interconnection, spectrum allocation and access deficit charges."

The meeting was attended by Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Group, Mr Shashi Ruia, Chairman, Essar Group, Mr Asim Ghosh, Managing Director, Hutchison India, and Mr Vikram Mehmi, Chief Executive Officer, Idea Cellular.

GSM and CDMA-based operators have been at loggerheads on a large number of issues especially spectrum. The two sides have been battling it out over allocation of 3G spectrum and also the quantum of radio frequency. CDMA operators including Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices have been demanding spectrum as much as the GSM operators get.

On the other hand, GSM operators have opposed it on grounds that such a move would disrupt the level playing field. The two sides have also been taking shots at each other over access deficit charge on fixed wireless terminals. While GSM operators have favoured a charge on FWT phones, CDMA players have decried the government decision.

When asked if the issues would be resolved despite sharp differences between the two camps, Mr Mittal said: "The industry is mature enough to sit and discuss and find a solution to all the problems."

The previous Government had also set up a joint group to resolve the imbroglio over WLL limited mobility, which had resulted in creation of the unified licence regime.

Mr Ramachandran said that the Minister indicated that the Government would move towards a revenue sharing arrangement for collecting deficit charges instead of loading it on every phone call.

Mr Maran also met top executives from the CDMA campin a bid to arrive at a consensus.

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Govt to set up joint working group of GSM, CDMA operators

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