Honest 836 Report post Posted January 3, 2009 CDMA-based 3G services limited to existing players Business Line l 3 Jan l New Delhi DoT asks RCom, Tata Tele, Shyam to suggest allocation method. The Government has enough spectrum in the 800 Mhz band to accommodate only two CDMA players DoT has called the three CDMA operators for a meeting next week to discuss the way forward The Department of Telecom has indicated that only Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Shyam Sistema may be allowed to seek spectrum for offering CDMA based third generation (3G) mobile services. Keeping out the possibility of any new player to bid for the spectrum, DoT has asked the three existing CDMA players to suggest a formula on how the available spectrum for 3G mobile services should be allocated between them. The move to limit the allocation to existing players may have been taken since the Government has enough spectrum in the 800 Mhz band to accommodate only two CDMA players. Besides, the quantum of spectrum available is not enough for a new player to start services. “The available spectrum in the 800 Mhz band will be best utilised if it is given to an operator which is already offering CDMA services in the country,” said a Government official. According to sources, only Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices have so far shown interest in taking the 3G spectrum. In that case, DoT may not even conduct an auction and instead choose to give the spectrum to the two companies at a fraction of the cost paid by GSM operators during the auction for their spectrum. But DoT may go for a limited auction if Shyam Sistema also evinces interest for the remaining slots. DoT has called the three CDMA operators for a meeting next week to discuss the way forward. In the case of GSM-based 3G services, DoT has allowed new and foreign players to participate in the auction. However, uncertainty looms over the auction for GSM operators with some operators wanting to delay the process. While a majority of the telecom industry want the 3G auctions for GSM players to be held by January 30, hectic lobbying is on by some operators to push back the dates till after the general election. A decision on this will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is scheduled to meet on January 8. Government sources said that efforts are on to conduct the auction as per the announced dates. They also said that the code of conduct for the general election will not impact the 3G auction process. “Code of conduct kicks in before elections on any decisions that are aimed at garnering votes by giving grants or announcing some new projects. In the case of 3G, the policy is already announced and it is only the implementation which remains to be done. Auction can also be conducted as late as March,” said the official. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
situ1962 21 Report post Posted January 3, 2009 This note will almost certainly give rise to another sound of controversy.i sniff some role of Amar Singh here.what do you people think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
santhoshavanoor 7 Report post Posted January 4, 2009 Government decision is not good for customers. Why TRAI is silent on this matter? Once CDMA-3G is allotted to these 3 operators, my worry is the charges for using 3G services can control by these operators. I think Government should want to think again or TRAI should want to give an instruction to these operators for the rates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted January 4, 2009 Its to be welcomed if the CDMA operators were to get 3G spectrum at cheap rates. It would translate into lower user charges unlike GSM 3G which I suspect is going to be very costly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vvinayakpai 26 Report post Posted January 4, 2009 Its to be welcomed if the CDMA operators were to get 3G spectrum at cheap rates. It would translate into lower user charges unlike GSM 3G which I suspect is going to be very costly. Fewer operators would also mean that there is consolidation rather than competition. Especially considering the fact that both TATA and RELIANCE are companies that have invested heavily in the CDMA business and are now made to invest in the GSM segment due to a shift in the market conditions. It cannot be ruled out that the tariffs might not be at the lowest and it may lead to consolidation rather than competition among the two operators. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted January 4, 2009 Its to be welcomed if the CDMA operators were to get 3G spectrum at cheap rates. It would translate into lower user charges unlike GSM 3G which I suspect is going to be very costly. Fewer operators would also mean that there is consolidation rather than competition. Especially considering the fact that both TATA and RELIANCE are companies that have invested heavily in the CDMA business and are now made to invest in the GSM segment due to a shift in the market conditions. It cannot be ruled out that the tariffs might not be at the lowest and it may lead to consolidation rather than competition among the two operators. Too much competition is not very good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
commonman 228 Report post Posted January 4, 2009 BSNL already has started the process of rollin g out CDMA 3G and for them spectrum would come automatically. So there would be some competition at least to Reliance/TATA Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravi_patent 28 Report post Posted January 5, 2009 4 gsm operators and 2 cdma operators are in the 2g service now. are the prices/tariffs of cdma providers are not comparable wt the gsm? fears for higher prices in 3g cdma are uncalled for.everybody wants to attract the customer, moreso the 3g cdma providers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kshah 452 Report post Posted January 5, 2009 Its good if they restrict monopolistic technology like cdma but at the same time why government can not open 450 hz and 1900 mhz band? Evdo works best in 450 mhz. And equally good in 1900 mhz I think every one interested in death of cdma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolboyashok 23 Report post Posted January 5, 2009 3G CDMA Means Ev-Do???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkaile 1,051 Report post Posted January 5, 2009 ^^^^ yes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@mitJ@in 256 Report post Posted January 5, 2009 CDMA EVDO Rel 0..I think so... @ HP Please confirm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
