The solution required operators to accept, in the interim, the industry regulator's recommendation suggesting a major increase in subscriber numbers for service providers to qualify for additional allocation of spectrum, the radio frequencies that enable wireless communications.
The telecom regulator had recommended a two- to four-fold increase in minimum subscriber norms in different circles for operators to qualify for additional spectrum.
However, operators have been asked not to dispute the final report of a committee that has been set up by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to examine subscriber norms qualifications.
The committee comprises members from associations of the rival lobbies of GSM and CDMA operators and independent experts.
As part of its interim solution, DoT also suggested that spectrum for GSM operators should be capped at 10 Mhz and that of CDMA operators at 5Mhz.
Under this interim solution new operators that have a licence and are waiting for spectrum would be given start- up spectrum of 4.4 Mhz in GSM (instead of 6.2 MHZ).
The government has also made it clear that it would not reverse its decision to permit dual spectrum usage by operators under the same licence.
The proposal was discussed today in a meeting called by DoT Secretary D S Mathur with chief executives of leading telecom companies.
Those who attended the meeting included Bharti group Chairman Sunil Mittal, Vodafone Essar's Asim Ghosh and Sanjiv Aga of Idea Cellular who met Mathur in one group.
Representatives of Spice Telecom, led by B K Modi, and executives of Aircel met Mathur; Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications, Anil Sardana, CEO of Tata Teleservices, and HFCL Chairman Mahendra Nahata all met Mathur in individually.
The CEO of a GSM operator said the compromise was "not acceptable" and that the operators would continue to pursue the legal course.
