Telecom Commission Approves Reliance Communication’s Gsm Foray

[sajokj 8]

Telecom Commission will meet today to discuss dual technology use under same licence. The decision is crucial for Reliance Communications' GSM plans.

Telecom Commission met today in the capital to discuss whether telecom operators can offer multiple technologies under the same licence. The decision is crucial for Reliance Communications' GSM plans. A green signal would clear the decks for the GSM roll out.

R-Comm had applied for GSM spectrum in 21 circles in June 2006. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had given a go ahead for multiple technologies.

According to the TRAI recommendations, dual technology use should be allowed. Though, operators will have to pay an entry fee for additional technology. And spectrum allocation must be on the basis of laid down criteria.

Source : Moneycontrol.com

http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/new...te/16/05/307333

[Himanshu Singh 19]

I sincerely hope Reliance get this one.Its needed otherwise the Big three GSM gangsters will monopolise the gsm market in this country.

[shashank 8]

Now four will monoplise the market.Thats it.No difference!

[situ1962 21]

That's rightly said.I agree with you.airtel..vodafone and idea have formed a cartel and are planning to cheat us.only reliance can take on them.in the 5 states where it is providing gsm service,it is the cheapest.ro we can hope of getting better service at cheaper rates compared to others.this way others will also be forced to slash rates.

[Arun 795]

DoT dithers, operators, applicants on the edge

11 Oct 2007, 0017 hrs IST

Times News Network

A meeting of the Telecom Commission (TC) in the DoT on Wednesday ended with reluctance amongst members to sign off on a clear decision on how to allocate spectrum. The TC's initial view goes against auctions, preferring to continue with the reservation of spectrum for expansion of operator networks before allocation to new licensees.

But, according to official documents with ToI, it then goes on to say a final decision will be taken only after it examines the recommendation of the TEC (Technical Evaluation Committee). The TEC is conducting a probe into whether the spectrum already allocated to GSM operators is being efficiently utilised. The panel also says the matter will not be referred back to Trai.

This is the inconclusive outcome of discussions over the last four days to finalise its views on Trai's recommendations on spectrum auction and review of licence terms and conditions. Meanwhile, DoT has also called an industry meeting to discuss spectrum valuation based on a questionnaire that it had circulated a few weeks ago. The TC has agreed with Trai on allowing dual technology and with its recommendations on AGR, though it might consider changing others.

While there is very little clarity emerging at this time, one thing is clear, that having sought and received recommendations from Trai on review of licence terms and conditions it will be impossible for government to either change or modify the recommendations without referring the matter back to the regulator.

The Trai Act compels government to refer back to the Trai in case it refuses to accept its recommendations. This process of back and forth could lead to another two to four weeks of delay and any attempt to circumvent the process promises serious legal hurdles.

The TC is proceeding with great speed in a climate of tremendous uncertainty and relative secrecy, which is making operators extremely nervous about what lies ahead.

Looks like they have no problem with Dual technology recommendation !

[Himanshu Singh 19]

The day Rcom starts GSM operations in Delhi I am sure it will hurt GSM operators big way.

[Honest 836]

^^^

Yes my dear friends. If Reliance get the GSM license then all other big operators like Vodafone & Airtel will have a tough competition. Reliance will fetch them down to the feet to reduce their tariffs.

Regards.

[Arun 795]

Panel allows GSM, CDMA within same licence

Business Standard / New Delhi October 11, 2007

In a move which paves the way for Reliance Communications to become a pan-India GSM player, the Telecom Commission is learnt to have cleared the recommendation of the telecom regulator permitting existing licensees to use alternative technology by allocating them dual spectrum.

In simple terms, it means a CDMA players like Reliance can also operate GSM services and get the required spectrum from the government within the same licence.

Earlier, they were allowed spectrum either for CDMA or for GSM within the licence. However, now they have to pay an amount equal to the entry fee of a UASL licence (over Rs 1,680 crore for a pan-India licence) to get the spectrum as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The Commission’s decision, however, has to be cleared by Communications Minister A Raja.

Reliance, which is a pan-India CDMA player, had made a request to the government in February 2006 asking for GSM spectrum in over 15 circles across the country under its existing licence on the 1800 MHz band.

The company already operates GSM services in eight circles, including Orissa, Bihar, Kolkata, Karnataka, West Bengal, North-East and Assam, with a subscriber base of over 5 million.

Following its spat with technology provider Qualcomm on high royalty payments for the proprietary technology, the company had announced it preference for the GSM mode.

The Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Group has also applied for a fresh pan-India UASL licence through two companies — Swan Telecom and Cheetah, in which it has less than 10 per cent equity stake. It is amongst the 30 companies which recently put in their applications.

Analysts say the move was made primarily as an alternative plan in case the government decided to disallow allocation of dual spectrum.

It is also learnt that the Telecom Commission has rejected a proposal which entails that the issue of reservation of spectrum for expansion of networks of existing operators, should be referred to the Trai. The law ministry is believed to have suggested the matter be referred to the Trai for its opinion.

On a proposal to hike the revenue share percentage steeply beyond 6.2 MHz, the Commission decided that a final decision would be taken only after the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) gave a final report on changes in the subscriber criterion for allocation of additional spectrum.

Trai had recommended the subscriber criterion be changed substantially for allocation of additional spectrum, a move which has been opposed by GSM operators.

The government has referred the regulator’s recommendation in this regard to the TEC.

The Commission has also cleared Trai’s recommendation to segregate subscriber base and annual gross revenue (AGR) into wireline, GSM and CDMA.

This has been done so that telcos using dual spectrum can determine the revenue share to be paid by them (as spectrum charges) which varies according to the circle area.

[kshah 452]

Seems to be a good news. Qualcomm will surely get hurt so is CDMA. Also other GSM players in India will be on toes now. Now just portability of numbers and fun begin.

[KumaarShah 143]

One more news report as follows: -

DoT favours dual tech: RCom gets a boost

Nivedita Mookerji | Thursday, 11 October , 2007, 09:51

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is in the process of framing fresh licensing norms for the telecom sector, is in favour of allowing dual technology by mobile phone operators, it is learnt.

The DoT line of thinking is in sync with the recent recommendations issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the matter.

If allowed, the new norm is expected to benefit leading CDMA player Reliance Communications, which has ambitious plans of expanding its 8-circle GSM service to all across the country. In August, TRAI had issued recommendations on new telecom licensing norms.

While DoT, through its series of internal meetings, has discussed several issues related to the new licensing conditions, the Telecom Commission chaired by the DoT secretary D S Mathur will meet shortly to firm up things.

Finally, communications minister A Raja's nod will be required before the new policy can be finalised.

Although DoT is in favour of allowing dual technology, the final decision will depend on spectrum availability, according to sources. Among other issues, DoT is likely to continue with the subscriber-based spectrum allocation criteria and first-come-first-serve licence policy, rather than introducing an auction-based regime.

The telecom regulator, in its recommendation, had opposed any cap in the number of operators in a circle, and had increased the cross-holding limit from 10 per cent to 20 per cent in case of merger, thereby encouraging the sector to grow even further.

Also, it had favoured access providers using combination of technologies, though at a price. Besides, it had lowered the limit of market share of merged entity from 67 per cent to 40 per cent.

The regulator had even imposed a one-time fee for spectrum allocation beyond 10 mega hertz.

In addition, looking at the current spectrum consTRAInt, it had enhanced the present subscriber criteria norms for allocation of spectrum.

On cross-technology or dual technology, TRAI said that an existing licensee may be permitted to use alternate technology to provide wireless access service, on payment of an upfront fee at least equal to the entry fee for an unified access service (UAS) licence in that service area.

Link: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14541384

[Ramchi 0]

As usual all babus stuff without anything for the end customer. These talks have been going thru for centuries without yielding anything. With elections round the corner it would be difficult for government to announce spectrum policies and quicker rollout of 3G. Reliance getting GSM means one thing but end customer still ****ing his thumb forever.

[FEVIN-RAJ 61]

One of my frnd who was working in Rcom, in their GSM project says

rcom had dropped the GSM project and concentrate in 3G sevices

Not an Official news ....

[Himanshu Singh 19]

Service providers can offer services on both GSM and CDMA platform: DoT

11 Oct, 2007, 0156 hrs IST, Times News Network

NEW DELHI: The department of telecom (DoT) has accepted telecom regulator TRAI’s proposal to allow operators to provide cellular services using dual technology.

This implies, service providers can offer services on both GSM and CDMA platform. The decision of the DoT’s internal panel will now have to be cleared by the full meeting of the Telecom Commission, the apex body that is looking into the regulator’s recommendations on licensing reforms.

If the Telecom Commission approves the DoT panel’s decision, the move will primarily benefit Reliance Communications, which had applied for pan-India GSM spectrum last year. HFCL has also applied for GSM spectrum in all telecom circles in the country.

RCom had initially planned to launch GSM services on a pan-India level during the current fiscal, but the company was unable to do so as it had not been allocated 2G spectrum since telecom regulator Trai was looking into the issue of use of dual technology.

The catch is that, even after the policy is introduced, RCom and HFCL will now have to join the queue for GSM spectrum. RCom’s company’s application for GSM spectrum is behind that of existing operators such as Aircel, Idea and Vodafone and Spice Telecom. Switzerland-based ByCell is also ahead of RCom in the queue, followed by Swan Telecom and Cheetah, both of which have been linked to Reliance Communications.

According to sources, the DoT panel has also endorsed TRAI’s suggestion that any operator who wants to offer services using alternate technology should pay an upfront fee which equal to the entry fee for UAS license (a pan-India UASL license costs about Rs 1,500 crore).

The DoT panel has also decided for the calculation of spectrum charges, the radio frequencies held by the two licensees will be added and the annual spectrum charge be prescribed on the total spectrum. Besides, the panel has also decided that the revenue share license fee will be calculated based on the combined revenues, sources added.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Arun

[Arun 795]

Reliance does it again !

Business Standard

Sunil Jain / New Delhi October 15, 2007

From a policy point of view, India’s telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we’re back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms.

So, earlier last week, the Telecom Commission, which is headed by the telecom secretary, okayed Reliance Communications’ February 2006 proposal to offer GSM-cellular technology for its mobile services — currently, Reliance uses CDMA technology to offer mobile services. On the face of it, the clearance seems trivial, given how telecom licences are technology agnostic — you can use GSM or CDMA, how does it matter?

Actually, it does and it doesn’t. Sure it doesn’t matter if Reliance gives its subscribers connectivity by using either CDMA or GSM technology. But the catch is that Reliance cannot use GSM technology on the spectrum airwaves allotted to it — each type of equipment typically works on pre-specified spectrum bands and, so, CDMA works on the 800 MHz band while GSM-cellular works on the 900 and 1,800 MHz band. So, by virtue of allowing Reliance to use GSM, the Telecom Commission has said that Reliance will now get fresh spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band as well! Interestingly, six years ago, GSM firms asked the government to allot them CDMA spectrum since the licences were now technology-neutral, but the government told them to get lost — they were told that while they could use GSM or CDMA, it would have to be in the spectrum bands already allotted to them.

What this means is that while over 500 players slug it out for fresh spectrum in various telecom circles, Reliance will definitely get it. Right now, Reliance Communications associates Swan and Cheetah are 3rd or 4th in the line to get spectrum in most telecom circles. But since the government is going to get only 20 MHz of extra spectrum once the defence forces vacate it, and it has to keep at least 10 MHz to meet the expansion needs of the existing players, only two new players can get spectrum in most circles (the minimum each firm will get is 4.4 MHz). So, Swan/Cheetah may or may not get the spectrum (the others, like real estate firms DLF/Parsvnath may as well go home!) — but once Reliance Communications’ dual-use spectrum is approved, the company moves up to second position and it becomes certain it will get GSM spectrum!

Imagine the irony, and the lesson to be drawn. Reliance (then owned by Mukesh Ambani) decided to use its fixed-line licence to provide mobile services in 2001, so the government legalised that and said they could do CDMA mobile on it — now the same CDMA licence is to be treated as a GSM one. Sure, the company will have to pay Rs 1,660 crore for it, but that’s a pittance compared to what the spectrum is worth.

That, of course, is just one part of the story. Ever since the great spectrum sale began, and columns such as this one pointed out that first-come-first-served would just allow firms to get scarce spectrum cheap and then trade in it, officials have been pooh poohing this. Various parts of the Trai recommendations are cited in this context. There’s a rollout obligation — unless firms roll out their networks, they cannot merge or get acquired (Section 5.27iv) or get fresh spectrum (Section 5.27ii) — in addition, the government is contemplating putting in a lock-in, whereby the firm getting spectrum will not be allowed to change shareholders for a certain period of time.

All of this sounds very good, but all of it is hogwash. One, in 1997, the fixed-line providers had rollout obligations for village phones by 2000 that entailed a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore — firms fulfilled just 12 per cent of their obligations by 2003, and all that happened was the obligations were rolled back. Rollout obligations for long-distance services existed, but also got rolled back. So, there’s no reason why these ones shouldn’t.

In any case, the rollout obligations aren’t onerous — you have to reach 30 per cent of the country’s district headquarters within three years. If you don’t, under the current policy, you have to pay a maximum fine of just Rs 1 crore (for GSM) to Rs 7 crore (for CDMA) — while your licence was to be terminated if the rollout delays were 20-52 weeks, TRAI has recommended that no termination be done and that, instead, a monetary fine be levied (5.27i)! In any case, TRAI has made a separate recommendation that “active infrastructure” sharing be allowed — that is, Company A be allowed to use the towers/radios of Company B to provide services for its customers. Once this is allowed, rollout obligations have no meaning since, if Company A does not want to invest in infrastructure, all it needs to do is to sign an active infrastructure-sharing agreement with Company B to cover its rollout obligations!

As for a lock-in period before share transfers are allowed, this was the policy in 1995 as well. The reason why it was changed was simple, bankers couldn’t lend to firms as long as this was in place! After all, if Company A takes a loan of Rs 100 crore but goes bankrupt, bankers/creditors need to take over the assets — but they can’t if the law prevents them.

The moral of the story: there will be trading in spectrum and the benefit of this won’t go to the government, but to the companies just by virtue of them being first in the queue — even lotteries don’t reward people for being the first in line to buy tickets.

[Arun 795]

its all clear now for Reliance Communications !

DoT clears way for CDMA players to enter GSM; COAI opposes (naturally!)

18 Oct, 2007, 2158 hrs IST, Press Trust of India

Government is believed to have cleared the way for cellular mobile operators to offer services using both technologies - CDMA and GSM - a move that has irked the powerful cellular association which cried foul.

As the reports trickled that the permission for the use of twin-technology would benefit the aspiring Reliance Communication, an Anil Ambani group company, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) shot a letter to the government saying that such a permission was against the existing policy and is tantamount to favouring a few.

While Reliance Communication Spokesman declined to comment on whether the company got a government nod on its year-long application, no official confirmation could be obtained from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).

The news about Reliance Communication as also Shyam Telecom and Mahendra Nahata-promoted HFCL started doing the rounds this evening, coinciding with the meeting of the Telecom Commission here.

RCom had approached DoT last year seeking spectrum to start GSM-based mobile services in all states other than the eight in the eastern region where the company is already having GSM operations.

The DoT is understood to have cleared the proposal based on the recommendations of telecom regulator TRAI in this regard.

Protesting against the move, COAI said in its letter to DOT that "Without prejudice to our submissions that such crossover/dual allocation of spectrum cannot and should not be permitted, it is submitted that even if the same were to be allowed, it can only be done through change in both policy as well as license as also after following the process of law."

GSM foray of 3 CDMA players gets nod

Business Standard Reporters / New Delhi / Mumbai - October 19, 2007

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has granted three companies – Reliance Communications, HFCL and Shyam Telelink – the right to use GSM technology in their existing licence areas, where they currently offer mobile services using CDMA technology.

Late tonight, sources said the approval letters had been issued to the operators. When contacted, two operators confirmed the development, but declined to give details.

The move makes Reliance, which runs GSM services in seven circles (the North-East, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) ready to operate GSM services in rest of the country.

All that the company needs to do now is to pay the required licence fee of Rs 1,617 crore to the DoT and install the relevant equipment.

According to sources, Reliance Communications is ready to pay the fees immediately and is in a position to get the network up and running within four to six weeks time.

The DoT will grant the company an additional 4.4 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band across the country for this purpose.This will be in addition to the existing CDMA network that Reliance runs nationwide.

Even Shyam and HFCL are eligible to get GSM spectrum in Rajasthan and Punjab respectively, where they run CDMA-based networks.

Once Reliance’s GSM network is up and running, it would provide stiff competition to the likes of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar in a bid to gain market share.

This will also impact CDMA vendors like Qualcomm, which receive royalties for the CDMA handsets that operators like Reliance use. With Reliance moving to a competing standard, there is a downside for the US-based company, analysts said.

Reliance had applied to the DoT for GSM spectrum for 15 circles in February 2006. HFCL had applied for 21 circles in May 2007. Shyam Telelink — in which Russian Sistema recently acquired a 10 per cent equity stake, applied in late September this year for nationwide licences.

The DoT had recently cleared the policy, allowing dual usage of technologies (CDMA as well as GSM) to existing licensees.

The department’s move came at the end of an action-packed day, which started with representatives of the three companies being called to Sanchar Bhawan for discussions.

As the news broke, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents GSM operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and others, cried foul and said the move was a violation of norms.

In an attempt to ward off the DoT move, the COAI shot off a letter to the DoT stating that crossover allocation of spectrum or dual frequency allocation is not permissible.

Director-General TV Ramachandran said: “We are greatly disturbed to hear rumours that the government has issued, or is considering of issuing, a letter to a large CDMA operator, permitting the company to hold a crossover allocation of spectrum. This is based on application filed by the company in February 2006, when such crossover allocation was clearly not permissible”.

The GSM operators’ body also claimed that crossover of technologies is not permissible under the present policy and license regime had been recognised by both DoT and Trai.

Further, Trai had also stated that “such crossover is not permissible”, even though the same may be allowed through an amendment in license.

[Ramchi 0]

Just like running in treadmill! You would have consumed time, sweated out but remained in the same place.

[Arun 795]

Reliance Communications pays Rs 1,651 cr for GSM business, gets considered for allocation of GSM spectrum

Friday, October 19, 2007 (New Delhi):

Reliance Communications Ltd has announced that the Company welcomes the DoT's new initiatives towards ensuring further acceleration of tele-density in India and in creating a level playing field.

The acceptance by the DoT of TRAI's recommendation of the enhanced subscriber linked criteria for spectrum allocation will ensure the much needed spectral efficiency and a greater competitive environment. This will facilitate meeting the telecom objectives of the country of attaining 500 Million customers by 2010.

The Unified Access Service Licenses are technology neutral and the grant of approval to Reliance Communications for offering nationwide GSM services reaffirms our stand. Reliance Communications would shortly commence its GSM operations on a Pan India basis in addition to existing CDMA services.

The Company has today made a payment of the requisite fee of Rs 1651 Crore for this initiative. As per DoT's media release, the Company will be considered for allocation of GSM spectrum from October 19, 2007 i.e. the date of payment of the prescribed fee.

It has been a rather anxious wait of over a year and half for Anil Ambani. But he can now be rest assured as his big bang GSM plans may finally kick-start.

In one stroke Ambani stands ahead of any other player waiting for GSM spectrum.

On late Thursday night not only did the Telecom Minister A Raja approved the use of dual technology paving the way for RCom's pan India play but also ensured that Anil Ambani get GSM spectrum to roll out services.

Because the minister has accepted TRAI's recommendation of enhanced subscriber linked criterion. He has also decided on allocation of spectrum for alternate technology to UAS licensee on the payment of prescribed fee, which Reliance promptly paid on Friday morning.

By paying Rs 1,651 crore as fee for GSM spectrum, the company also applied for GSM spectrum before the WPC wing of Department of Telecom (DoT).

GSM lobby

The company now has an edge over all in waiting. There are three categories of entities waiting for spectrum. Existing licensees with additional spectrum requirement, licensees waiting for spectrum to start up and lastly eligible applicants waiting for licenses.

Enhanced subscriber linked criterion has done away with any waiting queue. It has obviously got the GSM lobby up in arms against the decision.

"By changing the rules of the waiting list, the government has managed to wipe out the waiting list itself," a top source in the GSM industry said. In fact there is a possibility that the GSM lobby could be moving court over what they call malafide inaction.

The government could have well laid the ground for RCom's mega GSM play but whether Anil Ambani will gradually but steadily move to GSM entirely is what analysts are not willing to bet on.

However, one thing is for certain, RCom's entry into the GSM space will trigger another price war and that is reason enough for the subscribers to celebrate.

[Nirvana 4]

Policy windfall for Reliance Communications

Business Standard Reporter / New Delhi October 20, 2007

The new set of rules for granting telecom licences and allocating spectrum announced today changes the telecom landscape dramatically.

In a nutshell, the rules mainly benefit Reliance Communications, which did not waste time after being granted the dual-use right late on Thursday night. The company today paid up the mandatory Rs 1,651 crore and joined the queue of operators seeking spectrum.

According to some analysts, Reliance has vaulted ahead of others in the queue and now stands a “rock-solid” chance of getting spectrum earlier than expected.

This is because DoT today said that it would consider allocation of spectrum from the “date of payment of the fees”. Reliance did that today and is therefore ahead in the list of applicants.

But some analysts disagree with that. Because by the same logic the other CDMA operator Tata Teleservices acquired the right to have GSM spectrum in a similar manner. Given the value, the company could decide to do so, further pushing down existing applicants down the list, they said.

Another question that comes up is the fate of applicants who are in queue.

According to one analyst, since none of the applicants have been granted the initial letter of intent by DoT, and therefore have not paid up the fees, they are now behind those (read Reliance) that have paid.

This change of fortunes overnight impacts even the leader on the list, Russia’s Bycell, which has been at the head of the list of 46 applicants since January 2006.

The only silver lining for some GSM operators is that Idea Cellular (two circles) and Maxis Aircel (14 circles), along with Vodafone (six circles), which have paid up the money and got the license, but not the spectrum, can get the initial 4.4 MHz allotment of GSM spectrum, provided Tata Teleservices does not jump into the fray.

All GSM operators will have to first increase their user base to qualify for additional spectrum, a process that would take a few years, delaying their expansion plans and perhaps losing out on market share, even as Reliance Communications expands its GSM services nation-wide.

There are other implications, which rival GSM and CDMA camps interpret differently.

Bharti Airtel seems to be the single biggest loser of a policy that provides no assurances of when it will get additional spectrum for its nation-wide operations. Vodafone Essar, which is awaiting additional spectrum in 16 circles, faces a similar prospect.

In any case all GSM operators will have to fork out more money for the spectrum. Each additional MHz would cost Rs 16 crore in the four metros and category A circles, Rs 8 crore in category B and Rs 3 crore in category C circles.

Given their current profit levels this should not be much of an issue. But what has rankled operators the most is that DoT has changed the rules once again.

[KumaarShah 143]

All the above is alright, but then the GSM gangsters will not allow RCL to enter freely. It will fight it out legally before the TDSAT and then the courts also if necessary. IMHO, It appears to be a long wait for RCL still.

[kshah 452]

But reliance will be and should be winner. Reliance GSM will bring yet another revolution in telecom, atleast I believe.

[Himanshu Singh 19]

Well, Lets face it guys.Nothing is impossible for Ambani brothers.If ever a proof was needed for it, I am sure the recent turn of events has provided it.No matter how much financial muscle Mittals, Birlas,Sarins and Tatas of this world might develop,Reliance is still bigger than all of them when it comes to changing the rules of the game.The logic is simple:change the rules if you cant win it with the existing ones. First Late Pramod Mahajan helped out the elder Ambani start his Reliance India Mobile changing rules left, right and centre to suit him.Now the same is happening with the younger Ambani.Its going to sooth his ego immensly as now he can boast of getting GSM license on his own.

I am glad with the prospect that Reliance is getting to roll out pan India GSM services.Look what Reliance telecom has done to the states where it already has services.I know about its services in Bihar and Jharkhand circles where it has put all other operators to shame by offering cheaper tariffs.

I am waiting to get a Reliance GSM sim in Delhi.I am fed up of the VODEATEL( vodafone idea airtel).I hope it happens as soon as possible.

Edited October 20, 2007 by sachinrocks

[HetalDP 947]

1. WOW sala 1600 crore me 4.4 Mhz Free of Cost for all India.

2. and also Blocked 4.4 Mhz GSM Spectrum for new or old GSM player in 1800 Mhz out of 20 Mhz available.

" Ek tir me do panchi. "

[HetalDP 947]

1. Reliance will be Winner as They already have UASL in Reliance Communications
   
2. Reliance Telecome hold Mobile Licence and they also Converted into UASL paying Rs. 1651 Crores.
   
3. Means Reliance have 2 UASL Licence in 2 Company all other only have one inclusing BSNL.
   
4. Reliance Telecom is older then Reliance Communication it is from 1997. which get these Spectrum.
   
5. Reliance Uses 50 % lower Spectrm with almost same number of Subscriber of GSM Company so Addtional Spectrum can be given
   
6. Other GSM have older Equipment which is not that much Spectrum Efficient and they uses 900 Mhz which uses Less towers so Reuse of Frequency is not done. so Addition Spectrum Demand from Them is Temporarily rejected to Push more tower and More Efficient GSM Eqipments.
   
7. Remeber CDMA is more Efficient then GSM. so GSM Player will not get additional Spectrum untill then Push more Towers and more Efficient Technology and Equipements.
   

[Arun 795]

well, Defense ministry has to vacate the 45MHz of spectrum first... November end is what everyone is expecting, but still unsure as Defense ministry hasn't confirmed...

[Honest 836]

^^^

Now it seems to be a tough fight for GSM operators. Lets see what Reliacne comes with for the benefit of its subscribers. In all, GSM users will be benefited the most.

Regards.