Spectrum war: Tata backs Ambani

Reliance, which has built its infrastructure on CDMA technology so far, is trying to enter the GSM market, reports Arun Kumar.

Tata Teleservices on Tuesday indicated that it had joined hands with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications on the demand for the return of excess wireless spectrum held by GSM-technology-based mobile phone service operators, who are locked in a tug-of-war with the rival CDMA operators.

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Reliance, which had built its infrastructure on CDMA technology so far, is trying to enter the GSM market, as the current universal licensing regime favours a technology-neutral policy. Players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular are the leading GSM operators in India. Anil Sardana managing director of Tata Teleservices Ltd, a CDMA service provider, demanded the government should ensure that the GSM service providers who have spectrum beyond the permitted limits should return the spectrum excess of 6.2 Mhz.

“Re-farming spectrum should be given to crossover technology operators(like Reliance), new operators and operators waiting for spectrum since December 2006,” Sardana said in a statement.

Rejecting a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) proposal, Sardana said, “It is shocking that the proposal talks about spectrum allocation which is 2:1 in favour of GSM,” he said.