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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec 2 Bharti Airtel’s Chairman, Mr Sunil Mittal, on Sunday said that GSM operators would not accept the enhanced subscriber-linked allocation criteria for additional spectrum prescribed by the telecom regulator as a compromise solution to the ongoing tussle for radio frequency.

“We will not accept the TRAI set subscriber levels. We have gone to court on that issue, so how can we accept it as a solution. It is up to the Government to work out a solution that ensures level playing field. So far we have not got any such proposals from the DoT,” Mr Mittal told Business Line on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit.

Mr Mittal’s statement assumes significance as the Department of Telecom has called for a meeting with all the operators on Monday to discuss a possible solution to the spectrum battle.

Some of the CDMA operators have been pushing the TRAI prescribed subscriber levels as a possible solution for allocating additional spectrum to existing GSM players. The TRAI norms are much lower than the subscriber numbers suggested by the Telecom Engineering Centre.

In return, CDMA operators want the GSM players to accept the Government’s decision to allow dual technology.

However, the Cellular Operators Association of India is not ready to accept either as it would mean that the existing GSM operators would not get any additional spectrum immediately. Mr Mittal said that the numbers being suggested were unrealistic and the rival operators had got their mathematics wrong.

Even international lobby firms have jumped into the battle for spectrum. Former US Ambassador to India Mr Robert D. Blackwill has shot off a letter to the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, expressing concern at the spectrum policy and has urged the Government to auction spectrum. Mr Blackwill has written the letter on behalf of a US-based policy advocacy group Barbour Griffith and Rogers, LLC.

Meanwhile, Reliance Communication’s Chairman, Mr Anil Ambani, has shot off yet another letter to the Prime Minister saying that GSM players were hoarding spectrum and the Government should ask them to surrender excess radio frequency.

This is Mr Ambani’s third letter to the Prime Minister in one month on the spectrum allocation controversy.

He pointed out that if the existing dominant GSM operators had not been given spectrum beyond what they were entitled to then the Government could have given licences to new operators which would have resulted in revenues of Rs 5,000 crore to the national exchequer.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd

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