BANGALORE, INDIA: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is offering third-generation (3G) Internet service in the country on a commercial basis, even before the government has announced guidelines for the service.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is yet to award 3G license to any telecom player in the country.

The Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) service, which BSNL is now offering in select Indian cities, is 3G Internet service.

BSNL is offering this service on a pilot but commercial basis. The central government is expected to announce the 3G and WiMAX guidelines on Friday (August 1).

Though BSNL officials refused to term its EVDO (or EV-DO) service as 3G, an expert confirmed it as 3G.

"EVDO is certainly 3G, as it has been standardized by 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards," Atul Chitnis, Senior Vice-President of Geodesic Information Systems Limited, said.

EVDO is one of the two major 3G standards for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals. The other standard is W-CDMA.

The Telecommunications Industry Association terms EVDO as "CDMA2000, High Rate Packet Data Air Interface."

 Chitnis termed the BSNL EVDO service as technically illegal, since it is being offered even before the government has announced guidelines for its 3G policy. He added that BSNL will be one of the 5-10 licensees, to offer 3G service in the country.

A Member of the Indian Parliament also termed BSNL's EVDO service as illegal.

"If BSNL is providing 3G service even before the government has announced the 3G guidelines, it is improper and illegal," said Dr Sebastian Paul, a CPI-M-backed Lok Sabha member and legal expert from Kerala. "The government should take a decision (regarding the service)."

The EVDO service, which BSNL is now offering, is likely to give it an unfair advantage over other players in the 3G space.

"It is a bit tasteless that a state-owned organization is allowed to break the rules and get away scot-free, while private operators are made to toe the line," Chitnis commented. When contacted, wireless Internet service provider Tata Indicom refused to comment.

"On one hand, I am happy that a fuddy-duddy government-run company has pioneered 3G in India, even if a little surreptitiously," Prasanto K Roy, Chief Editor at CyberMedia's ICT Publications, said. "On the other hand, this is not quite a level playing field­ - Airtel or Reliance would not have been so confident about doing this."

BSNL officials confirmed that they are providing 2.4 Mbps (million bits per second) EVDO service in the country. The officials did not reveal the number of cards sold so far.

This correspondent visited a BSNL office in Bangalore and was told the EVDO cards were all sold out.

An official document, which CyberMedia News accessed at the BSNL office, said it is offering the service after receiving permission from "competent authority". This document was circulated to all BSNL circles offering the EVDO service. The document revealed that BSNL is offering 2 Mbps EVDO card for Rs 6500 and charges a monthly rental of Rs 750. BSNL, however, refused to name the "competent authority".

Though the document said the offering is of 2 Mbps, the actual speed is 2.4 Mbps, a senior BSNL official in Bangalore said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media. He said the offering is "not at all 3G service", but declined to elaborate.

Incidentally, BSNL is running a commercial in Bangalore cinema halls to promote this service.

Meanwhile, Charlie Mathew, BSNL's Principal General Manager in-charge of Ernakulam (in Kerala) Secondary Switching Area, confirmed that the telecom provider is offering 2.4 Mbps EVDO service within Ernakulam city limits.

"This is being offered in Bangalore too," he told this correspondent over the telephone, adding that the EVDO service was started in Ernakulam more than a year ago. He, however, could not provide the exact date on which the service was initiated.

Anil Kumar, DGM, BSNL, in Thiruvananthapuram also confirmed that BSNL is offering 2.4 Mbps service in Kerala. Both Mathew and Kumar denied that the service is 3G.

The DoT in September 2006 had allotted 5 +5 MHz spectrum in the 2 GHz band to BSNL to conduct experiments in 3G in Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Coimbatore.

It is not immediately known whether BSNL is using this spectrum to offer its EVDO service.

When contacted, TRAI refused to comment on BSNL's EVDO service. "I have no idea. The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has to answer this question. The DoT being the owner of BSNL, the entire 3G is in the court of the department," Nripendra Misra, TRAI Chairman, said.

However, according to a 2006 Reuters report, TRAI had allowed BSNL, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, Bharti Airtel and Hutchinson Essar Limited (now Vodafone) to use 3G spectrum for testing equipment. Sources said MTNL has been testing its 3G service in and around Minto Road in Delhi on a non-commercial basis.

Subodh Kumar, Additional Secretary (Telecom), DoT, could not be immediately contacted, as he was said to be in a meeting. RP Agarwal, Wireless Advisor, DoT, said BSNL is not offering 3G service in the country.

Japan-based telecom major NTT DoCoMo launched the first pre-commercial 3G network in May 2001 on W-CDMA-GA3Y technology. The same year on October 1, the firm launched the first commercial 3G network.