DoT asks GSM ops to deploy spectrum efficiently

The war for spectrum is getting worse, reports CNBC-TV18. The department of telecom (DoT) has raised an eyebrow over the inefficient use of spectrum by GSM operators and given them a week to comply even as the GSM industry has slapped a legal notice on it.

This letter is going to intensify the battle between GSM service providers and the DoT, which sent in its letter on 10 September to all GSM players. Just two days later GSM body COAI filed a notice against the DoT over spectrum allocation. DoT in its letter has ordered GSM players to use spectrum efficient technologies like

Synthesised frequency hopping (SFH), tighter frequency reuse plan (TFR). Both these techniques enable reuse of existing spectrum. Other techniques such as discontinuous transmission (DTX), antenna hopping etc have also been recommended.

The DoT has asked all GSM operators to submit a compliance report within a week. That''s not all DoT says it will conduct random sample checks in each service area to check compliance. In their defence GSM players say they already deploy spectrum efficient techniques but they admit there is room for improvement.

"We are not perfect but if you compare it with some of the other countries then there is definitely scope for improvement. We are already using a lot of these techniques." Sanjeev Aga, MD, Idea Cellular

Infact data available with the regulator suggests that GSM players are indeed deploying some of these techniques and that explains their ability to take on the load of more subscribers even though they are spectrum starved.

However even the regulator believes that operators could use spectrum a lot more efficiently which is why in its latest recommendations the TRAI has suggested tightening of the subscriber criteria for all service areas. But what seems to have upset the GSM lobby even more is the fact that they have been singled out and no such missive has been sent to CDMA players.