By Vipin Agnihotri
The spectrum war in India is getting murkier by the day. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the cold war of words, which started with DOT’s recent policy of allowing the telecom service providers to offer services using both CDMA & GSM technologies in the same circle, has transformed into a big conflagration.
In my opinion, the DOT policy is a windfall for CDMA players such as Reliance Infocomm and Tata Tele, while for GSM lobby consisting of Airtel, Vodafone and Essar, the policy brings calamity right into their porch.
No one is going to argue with the fact that the recent brawl has emerged as one of the biggest clash, the sector has observed till date. According to sources, protesting against the move, Cellular Operators Association of India, the body responsible for governing the rights of GSM players, wrote a letter to DOT.
To flare up the whole issue, Arun Sarin, Vice Chairman, Vodafone Essar on November 5, 2007 forwarded a letter to both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Telecom Minister A Raja, expressing his concerns over the recently announced policy favoring CDMA players.
It has come into the notice of The India Street that in response to Sarin letter, Anil Ambani retaliated with a letter supporting the government’s decision of allowing CDMA operators to offer GSM services under their existing licenses. If experts are to be believed, Ambani backfired at GSM’s lobby with a series of charges such as cartelisation and trying to restrict fresh competition.
In the midst of all, telecom ministry on November 12, 2007 decided to auction the new world 3G spectrum. Point to be noted here is that apart from the existing players, firms without telecom license and foreign firms will be allowed to participate in the auction. Even worse, A Raja announced introduction of mobile number portability from next year onwards.
In my opinion, this move will certainly flare up poaching leading to a significant increase in cost of retaining customers.
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