BSNL, MTNL back spectrum allocation policy

Counter Mittal’s allegations of special treatment

BSNL in this context would like to clarify that the spectrum, which has been allocated to the company in its various licence service areas, was justified on the existing norms.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 2 State-owned telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Friday came out in support of the Government’s spectrum allocation policy.

They also said that the allegations made by Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel, that the two PSUs were using spectrum inefficiently were not justified.

“BSNL would have preferred that no aspersions/comparison is drawn on the allocation to other operators keeping in view the healthy competitive atmosphere which has been prevalent in the industry. BSNL in this context would like to clarify that the spectrum, which has been allocated to the company in its various licence service areas, was justified on the existing norms. BSNL has already made use of the spectrum and subscribers are being serviced. BSNL is also paying the applicable spectrum charges towards this allocation,” said Mr Kuldeep Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL.

He was responding to a letter written by Mr Mittal to DoT on Thursday in which the Bharti chief had said that MTNL and BSNL have been doled out additional spectrum even when they have not fulfilled the subscriber base criteria as per the current policy.

Mr Mittal had also said that DoT should take away excess spectrum from the PSUs and make them examples of efficient usage of radio frequency. In response, BSNL said it was an efficiently run company and had captured number one position in the GSM market within six months of launch of its mobile services.

“We are the largest telecom operators providing the services in far flung and difficult areas of the country at most affordable and transparent tariffs. That is why BSNL is able to cover maximum rural areas where other private telecom operators find it commercially unviable to serve,” Mr Goyal said.

MTNL issued a press release which stated that its launch of mobile services was delayed due to various court cases filed by private operators. It also said that being a late entrant, it was at disadvantage since it was given spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band whereas private operators were given capacity in the more efficient 900 Mhz band.

“There is no question of any favouritism. MTNL considers spectrum as a precious sacred national resource, which needs to be utilised properly, uniformly and efficiently. Accordingly, MTNL is in agreement with and welcomes the proposed spectrum policy of the Government for the cellular service providers,” it said.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

BSNL mulls CDMA-based mobile services

To take advantage of new policy allowing dual technologies

The future of telecom services

The Government has already allowed RCom, HFCL and Shyam to use dual technologies while Tata Teleservices’ application is pending with Department of Telecom.

BSNL already has CDMA spectrum and is using the technology for deploying fixed wireless services in rural areas.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 2 After Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices, State owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is now mulling to take advantage of Government’s decision to permit telecom operators to offer both GSM and CDMA mobile services under the same licence.

BSNL said it was keen to roll out mobile services using CDMA technology even as it expands its existing GSM based cellular infrastructure. BSNL would become the fifth company to approach the Government seeking an approval for deploying dual technologies for mobile services though the other four companies are CDMA operators wanting to get into GSM technology. The Government has already allowed RCom, HFCL and Shyam to use dual technologies while Tata Teleservices’ application is pending with Department of Telecom. But spectrum has not been allocated to anyone till now.

BSNL could, however, become the first company to actually deploy dual mobile technologies, as it already has CDMA spectrum and is currently using the technology for deploying fixed wireless services in rural areas. Since it already has a network BSNL only needs a formal approval from the DoT to upgrade its existing fixed wireless CDMA platform for offering full mobile services. BSNL officials pointed out that the capital expenditure required will also be marginal.

Appeal in TDSAT

BSNL’s move comes even as existing private GSM operator have filed an appeal in Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal challenging DoT’s decision to permit mixed technologies.

BSNL had earlier sought DoT’s approval for the same but was refused permission as dual technology was not allowed at that time. “Now since the policy has changed we are thinking to seek Governments approval for rolling out fully mobile CDMA service. A decision will be taken in another 10 days,” said Mr Kuldeep Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

BSNL, MTNL deny favouritism in spectrum allocation

Corporate Bureau
Posted online: Saturday , November 03, 2007 at 0024 hrs IST

New Delhi, Nov 2 A day after Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal shot off a letter to the department of telecommunications (DoT), expressing anguish over the spectrum allocation procedure that allegedly favoured BSNL and MTNL, both the state-run operators squarely denied the allegations.

BSNL said the spectrum that was allocated to the company in its various licence service areas was justified as per the existing norms and that there was no logic behind government asking them to surrender spectrum, as it was properly utilised. The PSU argued that in most of the circles it was operating, its competitors had comparable spectrum allocated to them.

“BSNL has already made use of the spectrum and subscribers are being serviced. BSNL is also paying the applicable spectrum charges towards this allocation. In more than 50% of the circles in BSNL jurisdiction, additional spectrum is justified based on the existing norms and requests are pending with the government,” said BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal.

In a much sharper reaction, MTNL, which provides cellular and fixed services in Delhi and Mumbai, said besides the three-year exclusivity period that private GSM operators enjoyed initially, its entry in the cellular space was delayed by nearly two years because of the various court cases filed by private mobile operators to restrict the state-run service provider's entry.

“Throughout the world incumbent operators were given the license first whereas in our case it was delayed because of them. As a result by the time MTNL launched its cellular service competitors were already around six years ahead of MTNL. This resulted in loss of vast business opportunity to MTNL in terms of subscriber base and revenue,” it said.

On special treatment on allocation of spectrum and allegations of favoritism from the government, MTNL said all that could be put to rest by the fact that to take care of the congestion and network quality problems, its repeated request in DoT for allotting additional six carriers in 900MHz had resulted in no favorable decision.

On Wednesday, the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) had suggested increasing by almost eight times the subscriber criteria for GSM operators to be eligible for additional spectrum. Stung by TEC charges that private operators were not using their allotted spectrum efficiently, Mittal challenged state-run MTNL to set up two model networks in Delhi and Mumbai to demonstrate how an efficient network is run.

“Before the department moves ahead with the revised norms for spectrum allocation, I would like to urge you to direct (DoT) to demonstrate and guide the industry for efficient spectrum use by immediately withdrawing a large part of spectrum from MTNL each in Mumbai and Delhi and then run an efficient, high-quality network meeting all the quality of service parameters laid out by Trai and show the way to the world how best to manage spectrum without compromising the customer's interest,” Mittal had said.

Source: The Financial Express

Telecom News dated 03-11-2007