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Reliance Industries has asked the Department of Telecom to extend the tenure of its broadband spectrum. The Mukesh Ambani controlled company has written to the department that its tenure must be extended to level the playing field with Qualcomm.
RIL had bought the spectrum in 2010 for a 20-year period. Qualcomm had won the airwaves during the auction held in 2010 but DoT has not yet awarded the spectrum to the US firm due to issues with its application.
According to RIL, the delay in getting the spectrum has ironically worked out to the benefit of Qualcomm as the US chipmaker will be able to offer services for a longer tenure. RIL has pointed that while its spectrum will be due for renewal in 2030, Qualcomm will be able to offer services beyond that since it is yet to get its licences.
RIL's request comes even as the company has not yet rolled out services. Therefore the 18 months lead in getting the spectrum has not really proven to be an advantage primarily because the company is betting on a new fourth generation technology. Globally, very few players have deployed Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology and the ecosystem is still developing. According to industry sources, RIL will probably start rolling out its services by the end of 2012 which makes the two years from 2010 redundant in terms of licence tenure.
Riding Qualcomm's woes
RIL is now riding on Qualcomm's woes to try and get its licences extended to the date when DoT will issue spectrum to the US chipmaker. Qualcomm's case is currently with the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal after DoT declined to issue the licence. The department is holding back licence of Qualcomm's broadband venture despite the US firm agreeing to give bank guarantees on behalf of its partner Tulip Telecom.
Initially, the Department said that it could not give four licences to Qualcomm. When the company offered to take only one licence after merging all four circles into one entity, the DoT raised eligibility issues claiming that the company did not apply on time. Qualcomm took the matter to TDSAT.
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