Govt gives in-principle approval for allocation of spectrum

The government on Thursday gave in-principle approval for allocation of spectrum to GSM operators who have been waiting for frequency since 2006, CDMA players entering the GSM segment and to new aspirants in that order.

Communication and IT Minister A Raja signed the file Thursday morning and asked the Department of Telecom to proceed with the allocation of spectrum, beginning with the existing operators followed by dual technology and then new aspirants.

With this, Raja has met GSM operators' demand that they should be given priority ahead of others in spectrum allocation.

Among the beneficiaries, existing operators include Aircel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea cellular, while Reliance Communications, HFCL and Shyam Telecom would benefit under the dual technology clause.

The process would begin by issuing Letters of Intent (LoIs) to all the eligible players.

As regards new aspirants, according to an official statement, the government would issue LoIs to all the eligible applicants, who have applied before September 25, 2007, on a first-come-first serve basis.