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CDMA industry supports 1900 MHz allocation in India
October 26, 2004
The CDMA Development Group (CDG) and leading CDMA operators in India are urging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to make the 1900 MHz band available for the deployment of CDMA2000 systems in India, emphasizing that CDMA operators need the spectrum to continue to participate in the development of wireless services in the country. Consequent to the issue of Universal Access License one year ago, which allowed CDMA and other technologies to enter the mobile market, wireless services have grown 160 percent to reach 40 million users. The competition has driven tariffs to one of the lowest rates in the world, putting phones in the hands of millions who previously could not afford it. CDMA operators in India do not have enough spectrum to support future growth, and have requested the 1900 MHz band to deploy IMT-2000 services. This allocation is consistent with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendations and will not inhibit other IMT-2000 technologies to be deployed in India.
"CDMA2000 operators in India are introducing the most advanced 3G technologies available today to provide high-quality voice and advanced data services to the consumer, and they should have equal spectrum allocation per international standards. As the experiences in many countries around the world show, spectrum flexibility and technology-neutrality are key to facilitating the deployment of 3G services," said Perry LaForge, executive director for CDG.
India has full flexibility to select spectrum to use for IMT-2000 systems based on current use of the spectrum and the needs of the market. The ITU has identified a range of frequency bands for IMT-2000, and does not preclude their use for any other services to which these bands are allocated. The vast majority of IMT-2000 systems deployed today are at 800 MHz and 1900 MHz.
"CDMA operators have only half of the spectrum allocated to GSM carriers, which is not enough to support the minimum capacity required over the next two years for voice services only," said B.B. Anand, President for Regulatory Affairs at Reliance Infocomm. "We need additional spectrum at 1900 MHz, for which CDMA2000 equipment and handsets are readily available, so we can expand our networks rapidly and integrate them with our existing systems. We have no other options."
"The allocation of 1900 MHz to CDMA operators will provide an equal playing field for all operators in India to introduce 3G services," said Ashok Sud, Chief of Regulatory Affairs at Tata. "There is no technical reason that the 1900 MHz allocation will prevent deployment of WCDMA in India, as the opposition claims. WCDMA and CDMA2000 are being deployed in the same bands, as the examples in the U.S. and Japan show. Also, GSM operators can migrate their existing networks in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands to WCDMA."
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