NEW DELHI: The GSM Association (GSMA) has encouraged the Indian government to maintain its alignment with the global community and protect the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) recommended IMT2000 core band for 3G services.

According to the press release, GSMA has urged the country's telecom regulator to veto a proposal that would effectively isolate India from the global mobile market, a risk that would undermine the current growth and development of the country's telecommunications industry and restrict the ability of mobile users to roam internationally.

"In identifying the core 3G spectrum band back in 1992, the ITU – the UN's telecommunications agency – realized the importance of long term stability in spectrum policy. Through economies of scale, globally harmonized spectrum will make a major contribution to connecting the unconnected. This proposal is a direct attack on all that the ITU has achieved in this regard," said GSMA chairman, Craig Ehrlich.

The Indian regulator is currently considering a proposal to release spectrum at 1900 MHz that not only favors specific technologies, but also directly overlaps and clashes with the ITU band, reserved globally for 3G services. The 1900 MHz band is often referred to as the "US PCS" band.

Speaking at the 3GSM World Congress Asia, Ehrlich said, "If the US PCS band is allocated in India, then the Indian people will be denied the benefit of unrestricted access to global roaming in the 3G world and the dynamic Indian IT and telecommunications industries will suffer."

"This proposal is a short term fix that could do untold long-term harm to the country and its development of advanced third generation services. India is one of the success stories of the wireless world and this proposal is at odds with the country's strategic growth on the global stage," he added.

TRAI, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India, has proposed releasing spectrum in the "PCS" band (1850-1910 MHz paired with 1930-1990 MHz) to operators of second-generation mobile services. However, the upper band is part of the ITU-defined core radio spectrum for 3G services and has been allocated as such in the vast majority of countries, worldwide.