GSM spectrum to new players in 2 days

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom minister A Raja is likely to start releasing start-up radio frequency to new telecom players in the next two days, according to reports. The release would begin with the Tamil Nadu circle.

The Department of Telecom would start allocating spectrum in four southern states followed by other states like Maharashtra, Orissa and Bihar.

Citing sources, reports suggested that spectrum was available in the range of 50-60 MHz in nine states and was sufficient to accommodate all the new players as well as demand from the existing operators.

Only one new player in circles like Delhi can get initial spectrum. According to first-come-first-served policy, Swan Telecom would be first one to get spectrum in Delhi.

Videocon promoted Datacom would be considered if the Defence authorities released frequency.

Datacom, Shyam Telelink which has partnered with Russian telecom giant Sistema, Unitech, Swan Telecom, B K Modi’s Spice Communications and S Tel are the new player who have made the payment for the spectrum more than two months ago.

Shyam Telelink, however, opted for CDMA spectrum.