Shyam-Sistema to roll out 3G CDMA services as government announces auction of 3G spectrum to CDMA operators

New Delhi: Mobile operator Shyam Telecom, in association with Russian communications major Sistema, its major stakeholder became the first new telecom operator to get pan-India license for launching third generation mobile services. The move comes after the communication and IT ministry decided to auction 3G spectrum to CDMA operators.

This announcement has brought equal chances both for GSM and CDMA players.The ministry also assured that the auction would be completed by October this year. The third generation technology will provide higher speeds and data throughputs with high internet speed and multimedia applications.

Shyam-Sistema will offer mobile services in CDMA technology under the brand name Oasis in its existing circles in the country, except Rajasthan.

Communication and IT minister A Raja, who signed the allotment papers of CDMA spectrum to Shyam said that the allocation of spectrum would be done on the basis of the recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Shyam-Sistema will be the third private operator offering mobile services using CDMA technology. Anil Ambani owned Rcom and Tata Teleservices are the other two  pan-India operators offering the mobile services.

The ministry decided to change its earlier decision of alloting the spectrum on the basis of subscriber base of the operator after TRAI's internvention. According to the telecom regulator, alloting the subscriber-linked spectrum to the operator with maximum number of users would lead to reduce chances of new players in the telecommunication field.

This is bad news for Reliance Communications, which was sure to bag the 3G spectrum without any competition as it has the maximum number of users.

Telecom operators such as Datacom, Unitech, Loop Telecom and Swan telecom have been alloted GSM radio frequency in six circles and the government is looking at the availability of spectrum in other circles too.