3G Auction Possible On January 14 – The Despair Continues!
At the 3G India 5th International Conference held in Mumbai, gags were cracked about the 3G auction delays and business drivers for 3G in India were also discussed. Later the Department of Telecom (DoT) announced yet another date for the auctions to take place i.e. January 14, two days after which the auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) and CDMA spectrum will be commenced. However in the retooled information memorandum released by the DoT a precise frequency band to be be auctioned has not been defined, that’s due to the discrepancy with the defence services.
At WATBlog, we’d mentioned that the defence services needed more time for testing and security clearances before they vacate the spectrum i.e., 20 MHz for 3G and 25 MHz for 2G services and shift to an optical fibre network that has been developed for them by BSNL. The DoT said the External Commercial Borrowing guidelines have been relaxed to permit External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) up to $500 million to finance spectrum acquisition fees in the 3G auction. Relaxation of ECB guidelines for the BWA auction is also being evaluated.
DoT has also mentioned that broadband services might interfere in the satellite operations of the Departtment of Space. Hence, the moneymaking 2.5GHz band for the BWA services has been left out. The WiMax Forum has been buttonholing for this frequency band since it is economically executable.
But now due to the objections made by the Department of Space, only two slots in the 2.3 GHz band will be available for the BWA players in the auction. New licence to Internet Service Providers will cost Rs 20 lakh on winning the bid, being granted to participate for the auction. While for CDMA players the auctions will be confined to existing operators only, as there is just one slot of 1.25 Mhz available.
“The government of India is keen that potential new entrants to the Indian telecommunications sector, as well as existing operators, should be encouraged to take part in the auctions. Interested foreign entities are allowed to participate in the auctions directly and apply for licences subsequently,” the ministry statement said.
The auction is going to happen, but so many hiccups might as well just bring down the exuberance, or has it already? Operators have already started planning a 2010 launch for the service. Though 3G currently is getting a poor response and some feel that the service is overhyped we still feel that once the rollout happens it will open doors for content and VAS players in the mobile scene. Despite the deep insights shared at the 3G India conference, there were certain dashing hopes shared about the delays as well. Moreover there’s another date for us to look upon, as the 3G Saga continues!
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It is unfortunate that the 3G auction saga keeps on getting longer. The real loser is the telecom user who is deprived of superior mobile experience.
I am still skeptical on the revenue potential of 3G but I think mobile TV will emerge as the killer application in 3G.
Yeah slowly but surely. We are defiantly progressing into the future.