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New Delhi, April 15 Tamil Nadu is all set to get five new mobile operators with the Government approving start up spectrum to new players who had taken the licence for offering telecom services in the State. The Videocon-promoted Datacom, Idea Cellular, Unitech, Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom (backed by Essar Group) will be given 4.4 MHz spectrum for starting the GSM-based cellular services.

The move indicates that the Communication Ministry is all set to allocate radio frequencies to the new players in other Circles as well.

According to sources in the Department of Telecom, spectrum is available in at least three more States to be given to new players. However, for launching services in the remaining circles in the country the new players may have to wait for the defence forces to release spectrum.

DoT officials said that they wanted to release spectrum simultaneously to all the new players in a Circle to avoid further litigation.

A number of companies have gone to court contesting the Government’s policy of allocating spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis.

While some companies wanted the date of application to be the benchmark, others want DoT to allocate radio frequency based on the date of payment of entry fee.

Though DoT has some spectrum left for one or two operators in a few circles, it will release it only after getting additional frequencies from the defence forces to accommodate all the new licence holders together.

DoT had earlier released CDMA spectrum to Sistema backed Shyam Telelink across 12 circles. New operators could result in lower tariffs and better quality of services for consumers.

The Government is also looking at introducing mobile number portability which would make it easy for existing subscribers to new operator without giving up on their phone number.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Tamil Nadu | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings

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