savramesh 37 Report post Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) Press Trust Of India New Delhi - February 7, 2009, 0:35 IST The Ministry of Defence and the Telecom Ministry have agreed on setting up a dedicated alternate network for the defence services so that the spectrum occupied by them could be vacated for the existing 2G and 3G services. The two ministries, would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expedite the process of setting up an alternate network, official sources said on Friday. The Group of Ministers led by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukharjee met in New Delhi and reviewed the status of spectrum held by the defence forces and ways to release it for telecom services, they added. The released spectrum will be accomodated in the proposed auction of frequency for the 3G mobile services for which another GoM has been set up to finalise the price and number of players in each circle. According to sources, the DoT is likely to get more than 40 MHz of spectrum from the Defence services and the same would be allocated to the existing 2G players and also to 3G players by way of auction. Asked by when the MoU would be signed between the two ministries, officials said it should happen within a week. Amid difference of opinion on number of players in a circle and pricing for 3G spectrum, the matter was referred to the GoM, which is yet to be formed. Edited February 7, 2009 by Arun Share this post Link to post Share on other sites