DOT (Department of Telecom, India) has clarified that mobile operators in India can hold only either of the two licenses – GSM or CDMA in any given cricle. This is a severe blow to Reliance Communication’s GSM expansion plans. DOT had earlier sought Reliance’s roadmap for GSM plan which the company hasn’t submitted yet. DOT has clarified that the entry of 5th GSM operator in any circle would be subject to availability of spectrum. DOT is also concerned about migrating Reliance’s huge customer base from CDMA to GSM. But why would DOT supress some technology ?
Insiders are speculating that Reliance is already looking at avenues to convert existing CDMA handsets to be compatible with GSM by means of a buy-back and or free talk time to compensate its customers.