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DoT Makes Player Specific Changes To The 3G Policy ?
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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Amidst news of companies launching iPhone and Nokia getting ready to combat that, how many of us actually take into account that we do not actually have a 3G infrastructure in place, yet, to take advantage of the goodies these Super-phones have to offer? Well, ofcourse we do have our Bluetooth enabled handsets and our very own 58888 service that lets us download ringtones. For most it kind of suffices. For many, it does not. 3G is supposed to be the haven for the techies and geeks who are waiting to download the songs on their handsets, on the go, within seconds.
And Indian government, it seems, is improving in PR. What else could explain 1-3 news articles every week on policy matters concerning 3G? And that’s when the actual 3G implementation could take around a year or so! The government seems to have hired someone from Apple’s PR team.
So, this week’s installation was supposed to be a small amendment to the policy. So, the policy is that only the players who have had Unifies Acces Service License (UASL), or a Cellular Mobile Telecom Service License or have had some prior experience of running these services could bid for the spectrum, reports Business Standard.
So, someone who is a new entrant in the telecom space cannot bid for the license? Didn’t I read a few weeks back that DLF wanted to get into telecom? Looks like if it doesn’t has an experience of operating a cellular network already, it cannot bid for 3G!
Well, once the new companies start operating for an year or so, I’m sure they’ll be having the required experience to bid for the 3G spectrum. The government’s reliance on the old player is what we have to live with, for now.
What’s your take on this ?
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Ankit: the guidelines are available at http://www.dot.gov.in/
There are significant changes and the PTI story that Business Standard published has a misleading headline.
New telecom operators like Unitech Wireless and Datacom can bid for the 3G spectrum because they have a UAS License. They don’t need any telecom experience to bid. Only those companies without a UAS or CMTS license need to have prior 3G experience to bid. DLF was never in the game after it didn’t get the license last year.
A couple of other significant changes - CDMA operators now have to bid for spectrum; earlier they were guaranteed it, though at the highest GSM price. Apart from this, the 3G spectrum usage charges have also been reduced, which has an impact on sustainability.
@Nikhil: Thanks for your comment nikhil and the insights as well.
I think you have hit the nail on the head …
the main problem is that people don’t realize that the infrastructure is not yet in place .. and that they should should wait a while before they can bid on the 3G wisely and effectively.