Telecom bodies put merger on hold

The proposed merger of the Cellular Operators Association of India and Association of Basic Telecom Operators has been put on hold for now owing to differences between the two over a number of issues, especially the allocation of radio frequency. 
 
The two sides had earlier said after the unification of cellular and basic licences it made little sense to have two separate associations. 
 
In fact, anticipating a merger, the basic operators body had changed its name to the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India. 
 
However, according to industry sources, the proposed merger has taken a backseat with both sides taking divergent views on the issue of allocation of radio frequency. 
 
The sources said though all operators were now mobile service providers, the industry was divided over the technology deployed by them. 
 
While the COAI is championing the cause of operators using the Global System for Mobiles technology, the ABTO

is batting for operators using the Code Division Multiple Access technology. 
 
The divide between the two sides has become more pronounced after the telecom regulator came out with a consultation paper on spectrum usage recently. 
 
Industry sources said the COAI and ABTO were bracing for yet another battle to push their own set of demands. 
 
Basic operators want radio frequencies similar to that allocated to GSM-based cellular operators. 
 
They also want GSM operators to vacate the 800 MHz band and shift to higher frequencies like the 1900 Mhz band. 
 
These operators say CDMA equipment does not allow them to offer services in a multi-frequency band, while GSM operators were already offering services in the 800 MHz and 1,900 Mhz bands. 
 
Cellular operators, on the other hand, do not want to give up this frequency as it is a more efficient band with respect to lower investments required, compared with setting up a network in the 1900 Mhz frequency.