DoT asks defence to vacate 80 MHz more

The department of telecommunications has asked for vacation of an additional 80 MHz from the defence services to meet the needs of the telecom industry.

The vacation of additional 2G and 3G spectrum may generate additional revenue of about Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion) on the basis of prices according to spectrum auctioned last year, DoT said in a note for the empowered group of ministers.

DoT said the recently concluded auction of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum had earned the government revenue of about Rs 3,350 crore (Rs 33.5 billion) per MHz for 3G and Rs 642.3 crore (Rs 6.42 billion) per MHz for BWA on pan-India basis.

It added if additional spectrum is not vacated, it may cause a loss of revenue to the government.

Due to differences between DoT and various other departments, including information and broadcasting, defence and space on vacation of spectrum, DoT had decided to refer the matter of vacation of spectrum to the eGoM, which would also look into identification of defence band.

DoT said 150 MHz of spectrum in 1,700-2,000 MHz band for commercial use may not be sufficient to meet the requirements of 2G and 3G services.

An additional spectrum of 80 MHz is also required, without which the growth of 2G and 3G services will be hampered.

It was earlier decided that out of 300 MHz in 1,700-2,000 MHz band, 150 MHz would be used by telecom operators for mobile services and 150 MHz for defence network. However, DoT has now said more spectrum would be required in this band for mobile

services.

DoT is in discussions with various ministries for vacation of 100 MHz spectrum to ensure future availability of the spectrum for the telecom industry.

The industry is already facing a spectrum scarcity. DoT is also holding talks with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd for vacation of 10 to 12 MHz in different circles to make one chunk of 20 MHz.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the total requirement of spectrum in the next five years would be around 500-800 MHz, including 275MHz for voice services alone. On the other hand, the availability of spectrum is to the tune of about 287 to 450 MHz.

Some disagreements of DoT with defence ministry relates to setting up of an Optical Fibre Network in lieu of vacation of spectrum by defence services.

The defence ministry has already vacated 15 MHz 3G spectrum, which was auctioned last year. It has also vacated 15 MHz 2G spectrum, which has been allocated to new operators.

The defence ministry will release more spectrum in line with the stages of completion of the OFC network.

It has said there have been delays by DoT in laying the OFC network and in notifying the defence band and the defence interest zone.

Also, the finance ministry had not waived the spectrum charges for it.