DoT may award more 3G licences - Finds a bit more spectrum down the back of the sofa

By Jayant Mishra @ Friday, July 18, 2008 11:58 AM

Section - Telecoms/Fabric

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is contemplating a proposal to allow four more players to join the third generation space, bringing the total number of 3G licences to be auctioned to nine.

The decision will end the year-long controversy over spectrum scarcity.  The decision to allow four more players has been made possible only after wireless experts in the ministry reported the availability of additional spectrum band of over 20MHz.

The reversed decision is - unsurprisingly - not welcomed by the current operators, who have already expressed dismay. They reckon that allowing more players would increase the competition and to lead to over-bidding for licences. It will also make 3G services expensive, they say. X

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