Defence ministry to free up spectrum by December; Raja rules out auction

Mumbai: The defence ministry will free up some telecom spectrum by the end of 2007 which could be used by wireless operators to provide second (2G) and third generation (3G) mobile services, telecom minister A Raja said.

He ruled out the possibility of auctioning 2G spectrum for mobile services, even as the government is evaluating the process of implementation of mobile number portability across the country.

"We will go with the existing norms for allocation of spectrum. There will be no auction of 2G spectrum as recommended by telecom regulator TRAI," Raja said on the sidelines of a conference.

However, spectrum for 3G services and Wimax will be allotted through auction, he said. "We would go with TRAI''s recommendations as they are legitimate," Raja said.

"An institutional mechanism has been put in place for early vacation of spectrum by defence," Raja said at a conference.

The defence ministry had set up a committee to decide on freeing part of the spectrum used by the military so that it may be used for commercial purposes, he said.

"We are hopeful that some spectrum for both 2G and 3G services will be vacated by the end of this year," Raja said, adding the amount to be released would be decided by the committee.

Raja also said mobile operators may roll out 3G services by mid-2008.