Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said he would soon meet the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to discuss outstanding issues related to getting more spectrum for mobile services.

One of the major issues is the Department of Telecom (DoT) proposal to swap spectrum in the 2100 MHz band, which is currently with the defence forces, in exchange for capacity in the 1900 MHz band. The DoT wants to get bandwidth in the 2100 MHz band for 3G mobile services.

“I have proposed to meet the defence minister shortly. I reviewed the entire spectrum issue, including spectrum availability. I have also reviewed the entire programme for auctioning and the need for certain guidelines like trading and sharing,” he told reporters here after an internal meeting with the DoT.

Telecom regulator TRAI has proposed deferring the auction till the DoT is able to get additional spectrum from the defence forces.

While the Telecom Ministry is not in favour of postponing the auction, efforts are being made to get additional spectrum vacated.

The DoT has already inked a deal to get 150 MHz from the defence forces.

However, this does not include airwaves in the 2100 MHz and 700 MHz bands, which are ideal for mobile broadband services. Some companies, including Vodafone India, said the Government should defer the next spectrum auction as operators could lose business in some circles if adequate spectrum is not put for sale.

Bansal interaction

Prasad also met Sachin Bansal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart, to discuss logistics and connectivity issues affecting e-commerce in the country.

“Sachin Bansal has been a great success story in e-commerce. We discussed some strategic issues like logistics and I have told him we will work them out. As far as postal (India Post) is concerned, we have already started working on it. It is led by a high-power committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian,” he added.

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