3G roll-out most likely by year end

New Delhi: Telecommunications minster A Raja has said that the auction process for the 3G spectrum will most likely be completed by October-end, and that 3G services could possibly start by the end of the year.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event organised by Intel, the minister said that the spectrum auction process would be completed by October, and that he would like to see telecom operators roll out 3G services ''within this year.'' Raja indicated that 3G spectrum would be allotted on a pro-rata basis as per the auction.

Revised guidelines for the auction of the 3G network have been announced by the government, and they allow participation of foreign bidders with experience in offering 3G services. The government will allocate spectrum in the 2.1GHz band for 3G services to GSM players, and is reported to be in favour of a global bid as that would allow it to raise more funding from the spectrum auction on account of a higher degree of competition. The telecom regulator TRAI, on the other hand, favours spectrum allotment to existing players who already have the infrastructure in place to offer 3G services. TRAI argues that this would ensure faster deployment at an incremental cost to customers, as opposed to foreign players coming in and setting up the network.

The department's earlier 3G policy that was revealed earlier in the month was in favour of allotting 3G spectrum in the 800 MHz band to the CDMA player with the highest subscriber base (RCOM), leaving out the auction process, if the player was willing to pay the price that the highest GSM bidder paid for that particular circle.

Effectively, the earlier policy gave RCOM the right of first refusal for 3G services in the 800 MHz band, as it has the largest subscriber base in all telecom circles except Delhi and Maharashtra. The 800MHz band is considered to be the most efficient and cost-effective frequency for CDMA operators to offer high-end services. DoT's policy review was a result of TRAI objections, which said that the the policy to allot CDMA spectrum without an auction had the odds stacked in favour of a single player.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had modified its spectrum allocation policy for 3G networks using the CDMA technology platform. It had decided to auction 3G frequencies in the 800 MHz band for CDMA, as this would deny CDMA player Reliance Communications (RCOM) an automatic entry into CDMA 3G basis its subscriber base.

The minster said that there was inadequate competition at the time when the auction was announced, with only two slots of spectrum available, which had lead to objections from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He said with more players coming and more spectrum available, Raja said that the he was of the view that the CDMA spectrum too could be auctioned.

''Initially there was lack of competition in the CDMA space, with just two players. Now with another player joining, the competition has escalated. Therefore, it will now be auctioned as per Trai's recommendations, instead of allocation given on the subscriber base,'' Raja said.

CDMA operators Tata Teleservices, Shyam, BSNL and MTNL will now have to bid for spectrum alongside new global competitors who would want to enter India on the CDMA platform.

3G allows communication supports higher data transmission speeds, facilitating faster communication, internet and data services. It would allow telecommunication companies to offer new services such as video downloads, high-speed internet connection on mobile devices, video calls, interactive gaming, and  wireless broadband access on portable internet devices.