GSMA welcomes MoD decision on spectrum release

By Sharath Kumar on http://www.ciol.com on June 16, 2009

BANGALORE, INDIA: The GSM Association, a global trade group for mobile industry consisting of about 750 mobile operators,  has welcomed the Indian Defence Ministry’s move to release 45 MHz of wireless radio spectrum. The move will serve to accelerate the development of the Indian telecom market, and speed up India’s march towards mobile broadband for all its consumers, the trade group said.

The association has been demanding that the government must allocate the 2.1 GHz spectrum to drive the deployment of mobile broadband across India. The GSMA is of the view that the planning phase for the allocation of 2.6 GHz spectrum must also start now if HSPA is to evolve for the benefit of the Indian population.

In an email reply to CIOL, the association senior director Jaikishan Rajaraman stated that it is a well-known fact that congestion on 2G networks has been the bane of Indian operators for quite some time now, especially in the urban centres.

Quoting Bharti numbers, which serves 100 million customers with 11 MHz, Rajaraman said the availability of more 2G spectrum goes a long way towards addressing that critical need.

Also, it is significant that the majority of the newly available spectrum will be for 3G, especially in the immediate term.

“This creates a lot of investor confidence that the government is serious about its promise to allocate 3G spectrum via auction this year, and that 3G services will become the centerpiece of Indian telecoms in the coming years,” he opined.

“There is much to be optimistic about, and if the newly available spectrum bands are managed carefully according to international standards, it sets in place a system of continuity which will be welcome news to the Indian operators.”

Phased allocation

In Rajaraman’s view the phased approach is understandable given the complexities of the Indian military having to vacate a sizable chunk of spectrum. “However, we don’t believe this will slow down 3G service roll out to consumers in the short term.”

He added that this is because the simultaneous availability of 2G spectrum has allayed the concerns of operators and consumers alike that precious 3G spectrum will be used to offload congested 2G voice instead of being used for data services and mobile broadband.

As a long-term strategy, the government must keep in mind that with increased data usage and ever more subscribers using mobile broadband, there is a need to identify and set aside additional spectrum in advance for 3G services.

Delay losses

The GSM Association has recently demanded speeding up of the 3G auction. According to the recently published McKinsey report the delay has resulted in a $16 billion loss to the economy.

Quoting the recent McKinsey report the association has stated that once the licenses are issued and $20 billion invested over a period of five years, it can deliver $70 billion economic benefit in the same period.

See also: Indian defence loosens hold on spectrum at

http://telcobizpedia.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/india-defence-…ld-on-spectrum/

India defence loosens hold on spectrum

From www.ciol.com on June 8, 2009

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India’s defence ministry has agreed to release 45 MHz of wireless radio spectrum, the Business Standard reported, a move that will help fast-growing mobile telecoms firms reeling under shortage of radio waves.

The defence ministry had signed an accord with the telecoms ministry to immediately release 10 MHz spectrum for third-generation (3G) mobile services and 5 MHz for the dominant 2G services.

The remaining would come in a phased manner, taking the total to 25 MHz for 3G and remainder for 2G, according to timelines agreed by the two ministries, it said, without saying where it got the information from.

A spokesman for the telecom ministry could not be immediately reached.

Separately, the Mint newspaper, quoting an unnamed telecoms ministry official, said defence forces had agreed to free up spectrum over the next three years in a phased manner. It did not say how much spectrum they would vacate.

Related stories at

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/India-defence-agrees-to-release-spectrum-Report/articleshow/4630179.cms

DoT, Defence Ministry bury the hatchet on spectrum vacation

Thomas K. Thomas on The Hindu Business Line on 23 May, 2009

New Delhi, May 22
The Department of Telecom and the Ministry of Defence have finally signed the memorandum of understanding for vacating spectrum after both sides softened their stance on the various demands put up by the armed forces.

The defence forces have given up their demand that DoT should provide a 10-year annual maintenance of the optical fibre cable (OFC) network being rolled out for the three divisions of the armed forces. They have also agreed not to include spectrum already allocated to new players as part of the radio waves, which the armed forces are supposed to vacate once the OFC is rolled out.

On its part, DoT has agreed to waive the spectrum usage charge for the armed forces. In addition, DoT has also agreed partially to the defence forces’ demands to set up a defence band for exclusive use by the armed forces. But instead of giving an exclusive band across the country DoT will create a defence band along 100 km of the international border.

The agreement paves the way for introduction of third generation mobile services as DoT will get more spectrum for auction. A high-level monitoring committee will be appointed jointly by the Ministries of Communications and Defence to put the agreement into operation.

According to the MoU signed by the two sides, the defence will release 25 Mhz of 3G spectrum and 20 Mhz of 2G spectrum. Of this it will immediately release 10 Mhz of spectrum for 3G spectrum and 5 Mhz for existing 2G cellular services. It will release another 5 Mhz for 3G services once DoT places the supply order for setting up an OFC-based network for the Air Force. DoT will get 5 Mhz more of 3G spectrum and 5 Mhz of 2G spectrum on supply of the equipment. Once the equipment is installed, the armed forces will give up 5 Mhz each in 3G and 2G bands. Another 5 Mhz of 2G spectrum will be given on commissioning of the OFC network.

In return, DoT has agreed to setting up an exclusive defence band and Defence Interest Zone where spectrum will be reserved only for use by the armed forces. DoT will lay 40,000 route kilometres of OFC connecting 219 army stations, 33 navy stations and 162 points for the air force.

The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore for which the Communications Ministry will seek the approval of the Cabinet. DoT had earlier refused to sign the MoU on grounds that it could not accept the conditions set by the armed forces for releasing spectrum.

BSNL gets nod to award deal to Huawei

16 May 2009, 0217 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: State-run telecom giant BSNL has overcome opposition from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the defence ministry, winning a permission to award a lucrative contract for telecom equipment to Chinese company Huawei. A government panel, which included representatives from IB and the defence ministry, has endorsed BSNL’s position and allowed the company to place orders with Huawei for only southern states as they have no international land borders.

ET had reported earlier this week that both IB and the defence ministry had cited security concerns to argue against any Chinese company being given BSNL contracts to provide telecommunication equipment. BSNL had shortlisted Huawei and Swedish company Ericsson for its 93-million-line GSM expansion project worth around Rs 30,000 crore, the single-largest telecom contract in the world.

Ericsson was shortlisted as the lowest bidder for northern and eastern regions, while Huawei made the cut for the western, eastern and southern zones. The government had also set up a committee, comprising representatives from IB, the defence ministry, the department of telecom and intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), to examine the issue of participation of foreign companies, particularly with regard to security-related sensitivities, in BSNL tenders.

“This committee has given us nod to place orders with Huawei, but only in south India,” a top BSNL executive told ET. The logic: southern India do not share sensitive borders with countries, such as Pakistan, China and Bangladesh. Besides, Huawei is already working with BSNL in south India. But an IB official, while objecting to the Chinese presence, had said that given the security situation in the country, even the southern region, because of its coastline, can be considered sensitive. Moreover, he argued, distinction in terms of zones is irrelevant in the communication sector. It is not clear what caused the change in thinking.

“Ericsson will be given the contract for 43 million lines, of which 25 million will be for north India, while the remaining 18 million will be for the eastern region. Huawei will get the contract for 25 million for southern states,” the executive said, adding the final price would be determined only after negotiations with Ericsson and Huawei.

It is estimated that that Ericsson’s contract is worth a little under $3 billion, while the value of Huawei’s order will be about $1.5 billion. The BSNL contract is split into three parts of 25 million each for the northern, southern and western zones, and 18 million for the eastern zone. The tender conditions also stipulate that one company cannot be awarded more than two zones, implying that the maximum order an equipment maker can bag is for 50 million lines.

The BSNL executive also said that the committee did not open the bids for the western region for three reasons: Huawei is the only company shortlsited for this region, but since western Indian states share sensitive boundaries with Pakistan, the contract cannot be awarded to the Chinese firm. Moreover, Ericsson has been ruled out as it has already been selected for the north and the east.

Finally, the panel has not taken a decision on measures that must adopted when awarding contracts, including conditionalities, in sensitive areas. IB had said that BSNL should not award contracts to Chinese telecom equipment companies, as “these firms were known to have links with the Chinese state and security apparatus and, therefore, their presence in this critical sector has national security implications in a variety of ways.”

The defence ministry, too, had objected and said that “Huawei has been set up with the assistance of the Chinese army and has a tainted past in addition to being black-listed in the US. Similarly, the other Chinese company ZTE also does not have a good track record and in any case these two companies should not be allowed to come in any part of the country.