TEC Report on Spectrum to Spark Fierece Telecom Battle

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In: Mobile, Telecom

The Telecom Engineering Centre [TEC] has released its report on efficient use of spectrum. The final recommendations are summarized [PDF] in this report. The report must have come as a shock to GSM operators. Brief analysis as follows,

  • In Metro Circle of Delhi, GSM operators are required to have 4.8 mn subscribers to be eligible for spectrum greater than 10MHz. Under existing norms only 1 Mn subscribers are required.
  • In Circle – A, say Maharashtra, GSM operator has to have 10.7 Mn subscribers to qualify for spectrum in addition to 10Mhz. As per existing norms only 1.4 Mn subscribers are required and TRAI has suggested to raise it to 5 Mn.

I am not sure who in TEC formulated the regulations but TEC is under the control of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. [Visible from their website] It appears that this report maybe heavily skewed against the interests of existing GSM operators to let new operators on priority. Lets wait for the final recommendations from the Telecom Minister, A. Raja before we rant further. Meanwhile, I will try to find out what are the international standards for GSM spectrum for Subscriber accommodation. If you know, kindly enlighten me.

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