Armed forces to release 15MHz spectrum

The spectrum shortage in the country for both 2G and 3G operators is set to ease a little as a group of ministers headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked the defence forces to vacate 15 MHz of spectrum.
 
Under a memorandum of understanding to be signed between the ministry of defence and the department of telecommunications, while 10 MHz will be for third generation (3G) services, 5 MHz will be for second generation (2G) services.

However, DoT officials said there was still some work to be done to reach the MoU signing stage.

The decision to ask the defence forces to vacate these airwaves immediately was taken during a GoM meeting on 8 February.

According to the GoM, it would take an estimated investment of about Rs8,900 crore to lay a dedicated network for the Army and Navy so that they could release radio waves for commercial use like mobile services.

The DoT has been asked to approach the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to get its approval for the investment. "A separate CCEA note be put up by DoT for sanction of Rs8,993 crore for Army and Navy network to be implemented by BSNL," officials said.

The government does not have enough 2G airwaves to meet the demands of existing players as they expand their subscriber base, as these frequencies are occupied by the defence forces. Besides, several new entrants who were granted licences last year have not been given airwaves to launch services in many regions of the country.

The spectrum crunch has caused deterioration in the quality of services, increased call drops and also acts as roadblock for companies to expand their customer base. Additionally, the government does not have adequate 3G radio frequencies, which allows telcos to offer high-end services such has video conferencing , high-speed Internet and fast downloads of movies and video clips on mobile handsets.

The separate network being built by state-owned BSNL for the armed forces is scheduled to be completed in 2011. BSNL is also slated to complete an optic for the Air Force Network, connecting 162 locations, by June 2009.

The GoM also decided to ask the CCEA to speed up the provision of over Rs500 crore to BSNL, which is the remaining funding for the project.