India unlikely to have 3G until 2008

February 12, 2007

Consumers are unlikely to have access to the next generation 3G services until 2008. The Department of Telecom has written a note to the Group of Ministers (GoM) asking the latter to get the defence ministry to vacate spectrum for 3G services within 2007.

Following the vacation of spectrum, it is estimated that operators may take between 6-8 months to launch 3G services. The project to get the defence ministry to release 45 Mhz of spectrum (20 Mhz for 2G and 25 Mhz for 3G) is long overdue. As per the initial plan, the vacation was due in the second half of 2006, which was later extended to March 2007.

The DoT has also sought that the GoM get the defence ministry to release the 20 Mhz for 2G services within three months. It has also demanded that the GoM approve the proposal to get the defence ministry to vacate the remaining spectrum for both 2G and 3G services during the next three years. The GoM is slated to take up these issues during its meeting on February 20.

While the spectrum vacation by the defence forces is still a couple of months away, the government is close to finalising its 3G spectrum policy which will specify the methodology for allocation and pricing of this resource. The policy will be ready by March 2007, minister for IT and communications Dayanidhi Maran had recently told the media.

The delay in the release of 45 Mhz of spectrum is largely on account of non-completion of the Rs 980-crore project to provide an alternative communication system to the defence forces. On this issue, the DoT has told the GoM that the survey has been completed in respect to all sites of Army, Airforce and Navy.

The tender for cabling and trenching has been floated for 319 sites, of which 227 sites has been finalised and work has commenced in 191 sites. A core implementation team has been constituted to handle day to day operational issues, the DoT note to the GoM said.

With regard to the vacation of spectrum, the DoT has also asked the GoM to look into the international practices of spectrum refarming adopted by the US, UK, Germany and France.

In the US, more than 200 Mhz of spectrum was transferred from commercial to federal use, while in the UK, the GSM 900 Mhz and GSM 1800 Mhz bands were refarmed from defence through voluntary withdrawal of the incumbent users.

Similarly, in Germany, both the GSM 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands were refarmed (which was earlier used by military radio relay service) and in France, an agreement between the military and the administration led to the former freeing the GSM 900 band all over the country, the DoT added.