The Indian Government plans to sell off military radio frequencies to meet the demand for commercial 3G services.

Despite IT Examiner's repeated attempts, neither the DoT nor the Ministry of Defence would comment on any potential risk to national security caused by selling off spectrum currently used by the military to 3G operators.

The DoT says the only way to create room for more 3G players in India is to sacrifice military frequencies in the 60MHz range to allow 12 companies to operate 3G services -  significantly more than could be accommodated on the 25 MHz wavelengths previously earmarked, which would allow a maximum of five 3G operators. 

DoT has chosen six areas - Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa - where 60 MHz would be available. The department is planning to allocate 5MHz each to 12 operators. Other areas would operate 3G between 21 MHz and 54 MHZ which can accommodate 5-10 operators, The Financial Express reports.

The communications & IT minister, A Raja, says that the government will be announcing the policy for 3G services 'very soon,' probably within the next two weeks. The formal announcement has been delayed due to Tuesday’s vote of confidence in Parliament.

After a long battle with the Indian regulatory body, DoT officials hinted that changes have been incorporated as per TRAI’s suggestions.

The government can expect to generate brisk revenues as it had already fixed the reserve price at a whopping $523 million (2200 crore INR) which is much higher than the previously price fixed at $332 million (1400 crore INR).

Whether they are putting short-term gain ahead of national security remains to be seen. X

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